The Lullaby
by Kiaya
Summary: Her father died. She had just come to learn how to survive, and then he comes. He destroyed her life, all that she had worked so hard to hide. But without him, she would have died. Now, how long can she keep her secret from him, before all is lost.
1. Goodbye Lullaby

Disclamer: I do not own, nor pretend to own, any of the original storyline or characters of Inuyasha. Nor am I responsible for your becoming addicted to my story. **:p **

AN: I have recently baught the new Josh Groban CD, and I have fallen in love with it. I mean, I loved him before, but now I worship the ground that he walks on. I highly recomend this CD to every one of you readers. And for you wrighter out there, I have found that, for me at least, if I'm listening to music while I wright, I have better consistancy and less errors. I think that is has something to do with white noise. Anywase, enjoy.

* * *

"Papa, what are you doing? Are you going to battle again?"

He was standing by the door and had woken her from her sleep. She had come to find out what all the noise was. She had heard his weapons being lifted from the rack outside her bedroom, and then she had known.

"Yes, my dear. I am going to battle again. I have to protect you. You should go to bed. There is food in the store room for you if you are hungry in the morning. Go to sleep now darling." And her dad walked her to her bed, picked her up, and tucked her in.

At the entrance to her room he turned and looked at his little girl. She was only eight years old and she had experienced so much tragedy in her short life. her father wept at night with the worry of how she would remember him after he had passed. Would she forgive him for not giving her all the toys he could not provide, for her not having a mother to look after her, for running wild all day with no discipline to speak of, because he had to work hard to raise the crops that would feed her come winter?

Or would she remember the love that he gave to her and the respect that he held for her maturity? When he returned from this new battle he would be sure to take tome time out of his day to play that game that she was always asking that he play with her. What was it again? Oh, yes, it was called Tag. Who had ever come up with the name off the game was sure a strange person to name it as such.

"Dear, do you remember the song that I sang to you the last time that I had to leave you to do battle? Do you remember how it goes?"

"Of course papa, how could I ever forget it? It is so dutiful. Will you sing it to me again this night?"

"How about we sing it together? Would that be alright?"

At the nod of his daughter, he began to hum the tune to get it into her head before he began to sing, his own bass weaving expertly against her wavering soprano. Their words becoming synchronized as the song wore on.

"Hush now baby, don't you cry

Rest your wings my butterfly

Peace will come to you in time

And I will sing this lullaby."

"Know though I must leave my child

That I would stay hear by your side

And if you wake before I'm gone

Remember this sweet lullaby."

At the end of the second verse the child had faded into sleep, lulled by her fathers' smooth and strong voice. As he noticed this he backed out of her room slowly, and picked up his pack that he had rest by the front door before she had caught him on his way out, and he left.

He did not know that his daughter lay in her bed, in her room, still asleep; humming the tune that he had taught her as his 'Goodbye Lullaby.' The same song that his father had sung to him as he left, and his father, and his father, ect.

When she awoke in the morning she did as her father had told her and went to the pantry for her first meal of the day, and the next day, and the next day. Until two weeks had passed and her food was almost gone.

She lay in her bed on the night of the fourteenth day and she knew. She knew that her father would not be coming back to get her more food. She knew that he would not chop the fire wood, or finish plowing the field for the crop that would need to be planted. She would still have to do the house work and take care of the animals, and cook her own food, but she knew that her days would now become much longer. She knew that her father would never return.

She knew that he had died.

In the morning she would have to get started on the harder chores, then she would cook and then she would take care of the animals, and then she would clean.

She sighed, when would she find the time to hunt? She needed meat now. She had no idea how to hunt.

She sighed and rolled over on her side. _I'll have to save these thoughts for later. Sleep now. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow. _

And she drifted off to sleep, humming the last of her Lullaby.

* * *

AN: The lyrics of the 'Goodbye Lullaby' are from the Josh Groban CD. The CD is called Awake, the song is called Lullaby, and it is number 11. No I dont own that either. Will update soon. Please review. Love you all, loyal readers. 

Kiaya.


	2. The Visiter

AN: Hay you guys. A few of you have read, but i have no reviews. Im sad. And I realy like this idea. Well, in the first chapter I challenged myself, I didn't mention thrir names at all. Now, for the rest of the story I have a secret that you all are going to have to guess at. I will name what it is soon, but then I am going to have to keep the same secret, well, secret from Sesshomaru, later.

Disclamer: Read chapter one.

* * *

"Kagome, are you there? I just came to check up on you."

"Yah, I'm here. In the back." Came her voice from the back of the house.

Kagome was, indeed, at the back of her house. She was in her herb garden planning and preparing for the spring that would be coming soon. She had her house clean, her animals were all in good health, her food had lasted the winter, and all she had left to do was plow the field and plant the crop, as soon as the ground wasn't frozen. Then when the rice fields started to thaw, she would help plant the towns' rice.

Since the rice was planted in a communal field, and then stored in the town grainary, she had no issue with her food supply. She did her share of the work, she accepted her allowance of the rice every month, and she had her own field of vegetables and herbs. Kagome would always be able to live in her hut in her little village.

Right now, Kagome stood up, straightening her back to get all of the cricks out so she could properly greet her guest. She already knew who it was. The same person had come to check up on her every three days since she was ten.

Lady Miko Kaede was the local priestess. She had traveled the region for much of her younger life, and then, she had returned to the place of her birth, since she had recently begun to feel her age. She now traveled the three small villages near her own, checking up on all the households, making sure that no one was sick. There was also a small city not far away, but they had their own priests and priestesses and did not need checking in on.

Now she resided in the village of Edo, ten miles outside of Tokyo. Kaede presided over all of the towns' happenings and was the spiritual counsel in every matter. Her power had mostly waned, but what she lacked in strength, she made up for in knowledge.

Kaede was also the local doctor, making whoever was nearest into the local nurse. She made poultices, salves, and syrups. She could treat anything from a running nose or a cough, to a broken limb or infection. And for all the concoctions that she made to help cure the other people, she got her herbs from only one place. Kagomes'.

"How have you been these last days my dear? It seems you are already hard at work, when the rest of the villagers are just starting. I had thought as much. You are never one to put anything off that could be done right away."

"Thank you, Kaede. I have been weeding my garden from the moment that the snows melted. I find that it is easier to prevent weeds from growing if I don't allow them to take root in the first place. Then I only have to worry about my garden for half the day, instead of all day, and the other half I can worry about my field."

"Interesting advice, Kagome. Could it also be applied to life? Or are you using it strictly non-metaphorically." Kaede sighed with seeming exhaustion.

"You sound stressed Kaede. Were the Nebo family giving you trouble?"

"Would that they take your advice and had tried to solve this problem before it became an issue for the whole community. To promise their daughter to a demon and then not give her to him." Kaede sighed. "They are going to lose her in the end, and they are going to have to help repair the village after that last argument. Luckily no one was hurt. Arguments like these are what create bad blood in families."

Kagome sighed. She knew _exactly_ what trouble bad blood in a family could make. It could ruin whole families. Killing every one, up until only the children were left. And then they were left alone. She had found one such unfortunate child only a few months ago.

* * *

The child, Shippou, had been wandering the forest for weeks, with nowhere to go and no knowledge as to how to fend for himself; that is, until Kagome had found him. She had been out gathering a special herb that only grew in the snow, as ridiculous as it would seem, when she had heard the shallow whimpering.

Following the sound she had found a tree, then a hole at the base of the tree, and then she had reached her hand into the hole. Hoping that whatever was in there would not bite her, her hand found flesh. Then, hand wandering, she had found a nose, a cold nose. Kagome found the arm and then she had pulled the child creature from the hole.

Kagome had missed the prime gathering time for a rare herb due to his condition. He had bean delirious with fever, calling out to his mother. Kagome had tended to him as best as she could until Kaede had arrived to tend to him, two days later. He had almost died. His life had become worth more than a few herbs.

Kagome had taken him into her home after Kaede had reassured her that none of the other villagers would take him in. She had had a feeling that they wouldn't do it anyways. She had shared her carefully measured rice with the young fellow, sometimes skimping herself. Sometimes his voice sounded so week and then it would quiver, and then she knew that he was still hurting in some ways. Kagome would usually then give him the rest of her meal. This next month Kagome would be sure to get rice for them both.

Shippou wasn't exactly an invalid either, so Kagome saw to it that he earned his dinner. He would help with the cleaning and the coking, some of the lighter chores. The boy was only six, after all.

Shippou rarely talked now. They had gathered what little they knew of his past from his sleep, which he talked in, waking Kagome with his yelling, and often crying himself back to sleep. Only when he was awake was he free from his nightmares.

That was why Kagome had told him to go and wander around, maybe make some friends. He needed to live for a while before he had to grow up and work.

* * *

"Yes, I know what bad blood can do to a family. Or have you forgotten mine?" Kagome asked the woman. No trace of the bitterness that she held in her soul would ever enter her voice.

"Forgive me, Kagome. I did not mean to teach you something that you understand better than most. I only meant to say that they should learn from example, or at least…oh, I don't know what I mean." Kaede sighed in frustration.

"Its okay, Kaede. I knew what you meant. I may be cut off from the rest of the village, and I may not be able to see all the commotion first hand, but I'm not stupid."

Kagome picked up her basket from just touching her right foot and felt her way along the next row of her garden with her feet, not taking her eyes from the direction of the old woman, feeling for any vegetation. She would pull it all, except for the bulbs, and a few others that were better the second year they grew, and that would leave the rest of her garden empty for the new spring.

"Child, again, I did not mean to insult you. I was merely trying to explain their feud. You are just so touchy. You need to calm down, or you will end up with a permanent frown."

Kagome knew that she was on edge far too much. She had lived alone for far to long, depending on only herself, with little more than her pride for comfort. She sighed out loud at herself and knelt down at another batch of weeds in her garden.

"Yes, Kaede, I know. I can't help it. This is what comes of living all on your own for as long as I have, at my age. I'm not used to talking to people. Civilly, at least." Kagome sighed again, even though she knew that that was the reason why, it was still not right to use such an excuse. "I didn't mean to complain, Kaede. I should be thankful that you at least come to check on me every once and a while. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Kagome asked the old woman even though she knew that the answer would be 'no'. None of the villagers would ever stay for dinner at her home. 1) They were afraid of her cooking. 2) They would never sit down to supper with _her_. And 3) they wouldn't want to waist any rice in a home that had just barely enough to begin with, what with the unexpected arrival of a new person in the home.

"No, that is all right child. I will go home and make my own meal. But thank you for offering to cook for this old lady. Besides, I hear from the young tike, Shippou, that you don't eat meat. I need the meaty foods in my stomach at my age. But I was wondering if you had any herbs left, or if you had used your entire stockpile. One of the children in the Junta family had come down with a nasty cough and a fever, I kneed to treat it before it spreads. I used the last of the herbs that you had given to me on a wandering soldier who had collapsed not far from my house."

"Of course. I have plenty of herbs left. Here, you finish weeding these piles of stuff hear, and I'll go and get you those herbs. And don't you worry about pulling anything important; I've already checked them, just pull them all."

Kagome left her basket for Kaede and went inside to gather the herbs that she knew Kaede would need. She then returned to Kaede and gave them to her, wished the old woman a glorious evening, and continued on with her weeding until it was time to start supper.

* * *

I hope that you like this chapter, so Read and Review, and I might poste the next chapter.


	3. The Spiral Design

"So, Shippou, I hear that you have been missing your diet of meat."

Kagome had made a vegetable stir-fry in her wok, with the left over veggies from the last of her harvest. They were now kneeling down at the table, about to eat their rice and veggies, and Kagome just could not resist the urge to poke him with the jibe at her cooking. "If you want meet in your diet, I suppose that I could cook it for you, if you caught it."

"No, your cooking is fine. I like vegetables." Shippou mumbled.

Shippou never said anything above the volume of a whisper. He never complained, and he never disobeyed. He was terrified that she would kick him out of her home and he would be on his own again. But what he didn't realize was that if Kagome did that, then she would also be alone again.

"So Shippou, how was your day off. Did you meet any of the other town boys? Some nicer ones perhaps? Or did you stick to the woods again?"

Kagome had not been pleased when she had found out that, on the first day after the snows had melted enough to allow free travel from village to village, a small group of the local boys had accosted Shippou, and beat him into the ground. Kaede had spread the news of his arrival from house to house as soon as he had been found, so every house had known of the new arrival, there would be no knowing of who the boys had been. Shippou claimed to not have seen who attacked him.

"I explored the woods. If I'm going to be here for a while then I should get to know where to go. I explored as far into the woods as I dared and didn't turn around until it was turning dark. I don't see how you can travel out in the deeper forest, in the middle of the snow season, and still be able to find your way home. I almost got lost if it wasn't for the stream at the back of your field." Shippou set his chopsticks down on the table with a 'click,' and continued in a whisper. "If I had have gotten lost, you would not have found me."

There was a quiver in his voice that Kagome didn't like.

"What are you talking about? If you had gotten lost I would have known by suppertime. I would have gone to the woods and called your name, and wandering into the woods, until I heard your little voice. Then I would have found you. You already know that I am capable of finding my own way out again.

"Now, about your little voice. You know, I can _hear_ how small you are, just from your voice? You are still recovering from being sick, also. You kneed to eat more. Give me your bowl."

Kagome reached for his bowl over the table with her right hand, while her left hand groped for the rice bowl. That would be her solution for everything, food.

"No, I'm fine Kagome. I wasn't really hungry to begin with. And you gave me a lot earlier. Besides I don't want to…"

Kagome interrupted his refusal with a snap of her fingers that were still waiting for him to hand her his rice bowl. Kagome had found the rice bowl with her left hand and was lightly fluffing the rice, to un-stick it from itself in preparation of being served.

"I don't want to hear it. You are week and growing. You need more food." Kagome told the boy as he handed her his bowl and she started to serve him some rice. After two medium scoops Shippou interrupted her with a stuttered, 'Th-That is fine, that's good.' Kagome 'huffed,' about to scoop a third scoop into the bowl, but handed it back to him.

"Thank you. You know, that ring that you ware on your ring finger? Where did it come from?" Shippou asked to change the subject.

"Why do you ask?" Kagome asked guardedly.

* * *

Kagome had been on her own, with no one to talk to for so long that she usually didn't talk. At first Shippou had thought that it was because she resented having to take care of him, and then one night, when he had had a nightmare and woken himself up with his own screaming, he had calmed himself, hoping that he had not woken his caretaker. 

Kagome had stumbled into his room, in the dead of night, panting. She had come in to his room, and knelt by his bed. He had pretended to be asleep, trying to not be a bother to her, and he had heard her kneel down at his bed side. She had whispered his name and when he didn't answer, she sighed. She had stayed by his bed for the rest of the night.

When Shippou had questioned her about it the next day, Kagome had laughed and said that he had been dreaming. But he knew. He had seen the way that her nose had squinched up and how she couldn't even dine to look in his direction. She had lied.

Kagome was uncomfortable in potentially emotional situations.

* * *

"What made you think of my ring Shippou?" 

"I don't know, I saw it glint when you reached for the bowl…" Shippou mumbled so quietly that Kagome missed the last part of his statement.

"What was that, I couldn't catch it?" Kagome asked.

"I said," sigh. "I said that the same image in your ring appears all over the forest. It is carved on regular trees, rocks, in cliff walls, and they are all at eye level. I was looking up at one of the huge trees that are farther out in the woods and I noticed something strange in the bark higher up, so I backed up, 'cause I was standing right under it, so I backed up and got a better look at it. Up close it just looks like a smudge in the bark of the tree in a couple places, but I backed up and then I noticed that they sort of made a familiar pattern. And then I backed up _more_ and I looked at a couple of the trees right next to each other, and I saw that it was a whole bunch of trees that made a whole picture, and it is the same design as the one on your ring. So where did your ring come from?"

_That had got to be the longest thing that that boy has ever said to me. _Kagome thought. _He didn't raise his voice or get faster, or sound nervous, so I have no idea what to make of it other than genuine curiosity. This must be almost what he was like before. _

* * *

_ok, enjoy. i have only gotten 2 reviews, i am sad, i think that i might cry. but i have a whole bunch of hits. this next chapter will have kagomes hidden secret... well the one that i have been hiding from you. _

it might be in your best interists if you were to look up what a Koto was and all of the parts to it. i will have a translation at the beginning of the chapter, but it will go better if you understand what you are reading before you read it.


	4. The Koto

**Hay everyone, i would like to take the time to answer a few questions that have been asked. Yes, Shippou is a demon. Kagome just doesnt realize it. Another question is 'why are my chapters so short.' the answer to that one is that i am wrighting as i go. i am trying to make it as historicly acurate as possible. i am also trying to make it so that it doesn't go to fast. to many a stories have been ruined by excelerating the plot and then the readers are disgusted. **

**AN: I know that i promiced that i would reveal Kagomes secret in chapter 4, but it just wouldnt fit. i hope to get it in the next chapter or two, but no garentees. has anyone guessed what it is yet? Kudoes to those who have. **

_

* * *

_

**Last Chapter. **

_That had got to be the longest thing thet that boy has ever said to me. _Kagome thought. _He didn't raise his voice or get faster, or sound nervous, so I have no idea what to make of it other than genuine curiosity. This must be, almost, what he was like before. _

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Koto. **

_(deffinitions: sorta._

_A Koto is a musical instrament that resembles a lap harp, except that it is 6 feet long. it is played with three picks that are attached to three fingers on your right hands. they are called Tsume. it has two resonance chambers on the underside, and it, traditionaly, rests on four shord legs, about 8 inches off of the floor. the instrament is often likened to a dragon, the body of the instrament being the body of the dragon; the leftover strings, there are 13 of them, coiled at the end, being likened to the tail, ect. _

_for further knolege on the words, since moste are common Japanese words, **LOOK THEM UP.**_ p_)

* * *

"Shippou, I'm going to ask you some questions that I need you to answer. Truthfully, okay?"_

At Shippous mumbled 'okay,' Kagome thought about what she was going to ask the young boy.

"Shippou, have you seen this mark anywhere else? Have you seen it on any houses or anything?"

"Of course, I have seen it before. It is all over your house. It is above your doors and windows. You have it carved into the planking of the bridge at the edge of the field. It makes the supports for any hand railing. It is painted into the ryuko of your koto and on each of your tsume. I have also seen it…"

Again Shippou started to mumble. Kagome sighed. He would need to learn to speak so that people could hear him.

"What was that Shippou? You need to speak up."

"I said that I have seen that mark, the same one as on your ring, on your neck. It is just behind your left eat, and down a bit. Do you feel the raised skin?"

Kagome raised her hand and felt her neck. Her fingers searching. She felt a small raise in her flesh, with a slightly different texture. There was a hitch in her breath that Shippou heard clearly.

"Okay Shippou. It is time for you to go and wash up. Remember to wash your face. This morning, when I came to wake you up, I could feel the smutch on your face. If you are good and get all of the dirt of, I have a prize for you."

Kagome heard Shippou rise from his position at the table hurriedly. She could feel the vibrations in the smooth wooden floor as he ran to the clean room and shut the door behind himself. He would take an extra long time cleaning to make sure that she knew that he had actually done as she had asked.

Kagome positioned all of the dishes on her carrying tray. She carried them to the kitchen and then returned to the table to pick up the food dishes. She also brought those to the kitchen and then she sorted out all of her knives. She placed them at the end of the counter, all of the blades facing the same direction, as she had learned to never let a blade wander over her counters. She would allow Shippou to clean them later. He preferred that he clean them, it made him feel needed.

Kagome had almost finished the dishes when Shippou returned from the sauna. She could smell the steam rolling off of his skin, and hear his long hair dripping on the wooden floor.

"Shippou, I thought that I told you to not let your hair drip on the floor. It is dangerous, and it may warp the wood."

"Sorry Kagome, I'll go and dry it."

Kagome was finishing washing the last dish when Shippou returned, this time, dry.

"So, what is your present for me? Is it candy, does it have sugar in it? Can I eat it?"

Kagome had found out the hard way that Shippou had a sweet tooth. She had bean cooking moon pies, as was the tradition for that particular day in her life. She had set them to cool on the counter and turned her back, thinking that Shippou would _guard _them and wait for them to cool. When in actuality, Shippou was reaching for one of the piping hot sugar foods. He had touched the confection and had immediately yelped. She knew then to not allow him free rain with anything sugar; he had seen her take them off the fire.

"No Shippou, there is no sugar involved, you had sugar last night, and I might say that you will never have it again if you are going to be up that late every time." Kagome laughed at the immediate and loud denial. "Okay, okay Shippou. You have been asking that I play my koto for you. I thought that I could honor the occasion with a performance."

"What occasion? What is the occasion?"

"Never mind, would you like to hear me play the koto? And after that you can wash the knives and then bed time, okay?"

Shippou gave a false dejected sigh.

"Okay, I guess that would be okay." But he was already helping Kagome to bring down the large instrument, and then he jumped into his cushion on the floor, making ready to concentrate on her playing.

Kagome knelt down on the larger tatami that she used only when she was playing. She knelt in the left most edge and then angled the koto so that its front pair of feet were also resting on the mat, its belly resting above her bent knees. The twin stomachs of the dragon ready and hungry to feel her tsume on its brow, to feel the sound vibrate down its horns, Ji, and then digest it instantly to let it exit from its stomach, richer and echoing with the new life that the dragon had given to just a single thrum of a silk cord.

Kagome reached into the bag that she always kept tied to the ryubi of the koto, inside was where she kept her yamada style tsume and the extra Ji, just in case she lost one, each painted with the symbol on her ring.

Kagome placed the tsume each on their finger on her right hand, and then she ran her left hand along the cord, searching for a flaw in the sounds with the tsume on her right hand. She sighed as the sound started to come forth. She had just a few adjustments that she knew that she would have to make to the Ji to get the correct sound, after hanging on the wall for so long.

Kagome adjusted the Ji and then started to play. An old family song that her mother had taught her father, just in case she was unable to teach her daughter, and Kagomes father had taught it to her. 'Sakura, Sakura.'

By the end of the song Kagome was ready to cry, and Shippou had been lulled to sleep.

* * *

That night Kagome stayed up late. She laid a thick, flexible, sheet of paper over the spiral of her koto, on the ryoku; feeling where the paint of the design ended and wood began, so that she could cover the spiral and nothing more. She then proceeded to paint over the paper. She also filled in the engraving of the spiral in the tsume with rice glue.

* * *

Ooh- the plot thickens. anyways, please review. if there are anything that you deem that i should know about my story, feel free to anounce them. there is no point in flaming me, because i dont care. so read on faithfule readers, and Review.


	5. Spoil the Child and get a Reward

**AN:** You know, I read on someones profile that they really hate mushrooms. The reason being that 'they grow in poop, need 'they' say more.' I still love mushrooms, but I will have that person know that I love them more. I can only which that I were that honest (Translation: **funny**).

The female in this chapter who is such a bitch, Kayo, which is her name. **Not Kikyo**. That is an entirely different person who will come later. The slut. Sorry, excuse me. No Kikyo bashing. Until you get to know MY Kikyo. (Evil grinning and maniacal laughter.)

So, anyways. ONWARD. And commence with the telling.

* * *

**PREVOUSY: **

That night Kagome stayed up late. She laid a thick, flexible, sheet of paper over the spiral of her koto, on the ryoku; feeling where the paint of the design ended and wood began, so that she could cover the spiral and nothing more. She then proceeded to paint over the paper. She had no idea what she was painting, but abstract work was commonly painted on koto.

She also filled in the engraving of the spiral in the tsume with rice glue.

Weeks came and along with it, spring. Kagome and Shippou planted their field at the peek of the season, and then they both went to the tier like rice fields, to each help the planting in there own way.

Each night Kagome would play a little bit on her koto before she had to take Shippou to bed, as he proceeded to follow the lead of her first performance and be lulled to sleep quite easily. He never asked her why she had covered up the spiral on the instrument; neither did he ask her to tell him why she had also stopped wearing her ring.

On the night of the spring festival, the most boisterous night of the village, the night when neither Kagome nor Shippou could avoid the celebration, Shippou surprised Kagome with a present.

"Okay Shippou, you go and have a good time. Go and buy something for your self with this money and anything that you have left from before." Kagome and Shippou had just entered the village. As they passed the entrance, between the two columns, Kagome dug in the pouch if her obi and took three coins out. These she handed to the boy. She had paid him some smaller coins before, for doing larger chores. If he had brought them with him, he might have enough to buy himself a small trinket.

There would be feasting and music and dancing at this festival. People would be coming to sell merchandise and food. The villagers would take out the projects that they had worked on all winter, and then try to sell them. Some of the smaller smiths came to show their weapons, jewelers to show less expensive replicas, and bakers would come to bake practical sweets, instead of the pastries that the higher ups demanded.

"Kagome you should not spoil the child so. If you let him run wild, with money no less, he will become incorrigible."

One of the local mothers had seen Kagome give Shippou the money and tell him to go and buy something. Most of the parents in the town tried to tell their children _not_ to buy anything.

"And why would I not spoil a child that is a guest in my house? He works like no guest would, and he earns his money. Besides, Kayo, **AN:**_ notice that it is _not_ Ki-_k-_yo)_ I can _afford_ to indulge the little guy every once in a while."

Kagome had hit a sore spot for the young mother. She cad been born into a moderately wealthy family, and she had been pampered. She had married for love, into a lesser house, and now she was feeling the strain of having to actually _work_, and of not being pampered.

"Well, at least my children won't be spoiled. They will be practical, and they will be loved."

"That is enough, Kayo." Her husband, Jonya, had come to hear what his wife was saying to Kagome, and he had not been happy with what he heard. "You will not speak to Kagome-sama in such a manner again."

"Yes, husband." Kayo bowed to her husband and left to talk with the other women.

"Please forgive my wife, Kagome-sama. She is not feeling well, it won't happen again." Jonya bowed to Kagome and waited for her to either accept his apology, or reprimand him for not having proper control of his wife.

"Vary well, Jonya. She is forgiven. Don't let it happen again. You should talk to her, do not punish her. She was just speaking her mind, I appreciate it, but she needs to learn subtlety."

"But, Kagome-sama, she is a woman; she is not supposed to speak her mind. Especially in public. She needs to learn her place as a woman of the house."

"Jonya, what gender am I? Am I male? No. I am a woman. You show respect to me, so show it to your wife. Go away; I may forgive you later."

Kagome walked along the railing, following it to the town center. People would, should, bow to her as she passed them on her way to the shrine that the miko, Kaede, lived in. But if they didn't, then she would take no notice, couldn't.

Kagome was heading to the shrine so that she could pray for the souls of her ancestors. Yes she always prayed for their souls, but this was just a public event to make sure that she was doing her _duty_ as the only child, and that she remembered them.

Kaede appeared at Kagomes side as she reached the steps to the shrine. She guided Kagomes arm as they climbed, though she didn't really need it. She knew that if Kaede were at her side the people could not refuse to bow, or they would also be disrespecting the miko.

"I saw that Kayo was being rude, as usual. But what did you say Jonya to make him look so annoyed?

"He is going to punish his wife, I told him that he should not punish her because she is female and then he proceeded to insult my gender."

"_Your_ gender? I think that it should properly be called 'our' gender." Kaede said with a laugh in her voice.

"True, true. But I told him that I might forgive him later. He was insulted that he would need my forgiveness."

Kaede chuckled as they proceeded to climb the _long_ flight of stairs.

* * *

The only way for Kagome to escape this night of festivities was, well…there was no way to escape. Every year she was forced to sit and look pretty in front of the whole village. While they ate and drank and enjoyed themselves, she sat in her chair, bored to death. 

She wished that for once in her life she would be able to disregard duty and have fun, instead of always being the responsible one. She wished to be able to relax, to be able to ware clothes that were not so restricting, and get food on her fingers.

It was drawing near the end of the festival, where all the living presented there gifts to their other living relatives, the whole point of the festival; well, the relatives part. This was the part of the festival that Kagome hated the most. She never received a gift, and though she needed for nothing, it would have been good to feel that she was remembered.

Kaede rang the cymbal that indicated the end of the festival. People usually accosted their relatives, to give them their gift, on the way home. Kagome would remain in her chair that overlooked the grounds where the festival was held until Kaede came to _escort_ her down the stairs. Then she would head home.

Well, that was what should have happened, what usually happened. But the variable that Kagome had forgotten was Shippou, and the fact that she had given him some money.

* * *

"Kagome, Kagome. Hurry down so that we can head home." 

Kagome smiled. She _had_ forgotten him. Then she frowned. She had also forgotten to buy him a present. She sighed. She would make it up to him.

"Kagome. I have something for you."

Shippou had waited at the bottom of the stairs and as she stepped off of them, he grabbed her by the arm and proceeded to drag her toward home.

"Hurry, we have the longest walk of all the villagers. You live the farthest out."

Kagome walked slowly through the festival grounds. She never wanted to step on anything, especially when she was barefoot. She had stepped on a nail once; it had confused her to no end.

They walked up the path that led into the back brush off of the real path of the village. Her home resided on a hill that overlooked the whole village, thus, it was a ways away, with plenty of twisting trails.

With no more than two short but twisting trails left, Shippou asked Kagome to hold on for a second while he got something.

"Okay. Now, close your eyes."

Kagome raised her eyebrows at him, and chuckled as she herd him fidget into her permanent darkness.

"Just, close your eyes, and hold out your hand. It will make me feel better."

Kagome smiled and did as she was asked, holding out her hand to his level, and closing her blank eyes.

In her hand, Shippou placed a box. It was small and wooden, with two leather straps in back that allowed the lid to open, and then there was a wooden clasp in the front.

"What is this, Shippou? What have you got hear." He just giggled and told her to open the box and feel inside.

Kagome opened the box, holding it in one hand since it was so light. She reached into its short depths and felt around. On top was a cloth that Kagome moved aside. Under the cloth though, she felt her true prize.

Under the protective cloth Kagome felt a metal chain. It was cold, but flexible. It was all wound up on itself so that it could fit inside the box. It felt to be an extremely long chain.

"Shippou, where did you get this? Shippou?"

But all she received was another giggle. He had run off in the direction of the house. Kagome placed the cloth back over the top of the chain and closed the lid to the box. She wiped the wetness from her eyes, and proceeded to follow him.

* * *

"Shippou, why did you buy me a gift? The money that I gave to you was for you to spend on yourself. I gave it to you so you could have a nice time, not so you could spend one few times of the year when the whole community is together, shopping for a gift." 

"But I wanted to…" and… He mumbles again.

Kagome sighed. "Shippou, I'm not mad at you. I really like your gift, and I really appreciate it. I just wanted you to have a good time."

"Kagome, you gave me more than enough coin for both. You obviously don't do a lot of shopping. I had enough coin to buy myself a red ribbon for my hair, some pastry bread, and that necklace. You have been so kind to me and have asked for so little in return, I felt that a gift was the least that I could do. Even if it was bought with your own money."

Kagome laughed, he did have a point. The greedy part of her brain had wanted a present for the longest time. She would have to buy him an extra big present the next occasion that she had.

"Okay, Shippou. You win. I humbly accept your gift. I love it. It is something that I have never had. Thank you."

Kagome gave Shippou a hug. She was touched. No one had bought her a present in such a long time.

"Hay, Shippou?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, Kagome?"

"Will you describe it to me? The necklace, will you describe how it looks?"

"Sure. Anything for you. It is made of small links of mettle that are connected somehow so that the links are hidden on the inside." As Shippou described the necklace, Kagome opened the box and took out the long band. "It is in a round shape, but it is flexible. It is a shiny silvery blue, though I suppose you don't care the color. It is extra long so that it can wrap along your neck twice. One of them will be extra long and hang down your front, under your clothes. The other loop will be short and has a pendant that you can put on it. The pendant is a pink stone that is perfectly smooth and round. It is really shiny; I think that it can be seen in the dark. I got you this one because of the part that tucks under your clothes. You can put your ring on it and tuck it under your clothes and it will always be with you. You can never lose it. Your ring, that is."

Kagome was speechless. He had thought hard about what he was getting her. He had seen her twitching her hands, longing to have her ring on her finger, and he had thought of a way to help her.

"Thank you, Shippou. I love it." Kagome reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes for the second time that night.

"You are welcome, Kagome. I will go to bed early so that you can find something to eat; I noticed that no food went near your chair. Eat, and then you go to bed." Shippou whispered. Kagome heard him walk to his bedroom door and slide it open. Then it slid shut.

Kagome went to her tatami mat in the sitting room and brought down her koto, and set it down where it had rested for many nights recently. She knelt in her proper place and then placed her new gift box on the ground next to her. She played 'Goodbye Lullaby' until she could no longer keep her eyes open, then she packed it up and went to bed.

* * *

Du du du. Come on. No one has even _tried_ to communicate about what Kagome has wrong with her. So i guess that i sill just reavele what it is... **Next chapter**. 

Well, Shippou seems to be getting more intelectuial than he was at the begining of the story. It must be hard for him to keep up the act and lye to Kagome constantly. Well, guilt by obmission.

So, my little chickadies. The question is, if my story will follow the summery. Since I wrote the summery first, there is no telling. You should tell me.

Listen to me, I sound like I'm begging for reviews. Well, the truth is, that I technicaly am. So R&R.

Love you all loyal readers. _**Kiaya.**_

* * *


	6. Holy Portals and Expectatians

**_AN: _**Now, come on folks. I want reviews. I have plenty of hits, but not enough reviews. I mean, come on. Five, and one of them is from myself. Pathetic. Mostly on my part.

_**Semi- Important/Informative Fact:**_ The Japanese and many other ancient cultures took pride in compairing and worshiping their bodies to their religous icons, like temples and text. For example: The hands would be compaired to the making of miricles, able to create things (I think that that particular comparison came about with the ideal that because we were given thumbs that we are superior creatures). Another compairison would be to an eye. The ability to see and for the soul to grow. with only one eye, portal to th eoutside world, your soul is unable to reach its full potential. Now, I may be mashing some religons together, and people may take offense to being mashed, but please don't. Iam saying what I know as bluntly as I can. privetly inform me otherwise if you have a problem. **Or just stop reading my work.** Now look what you just made me do; you made me inadvertantly include a **Disclamer. **

**

* * *

PREVIOUSLY:**

"Thank you, Shippou. I love it." Kagome reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes for the second time that night. She was sure that the necklace was a beautiful piece of jewelry and she would treasure it like the treasure that it was sure to become.

* * *

"Kagome, the necklace looks beautiful. The pink jewel is adorable. Do you have your ring in the long part?" 

Shippou had woken in the morning to find Kagome making breakfast, with her sleeves rolled up and her hair pulled back, and wearing the necklace. He had smiled at her back and moved to the pantry to get the pitcher of water for the table. As he did, Kagome laid out the breakfast on the table and made sure that nothing would catch fire while she ate.

"Yes, the ring is on the chain. I had a heck of a time figuring out how to get it on there. But I'm sure that it is lovely. Thank you for buying it for me."

Kagome and Shippou ate their breakfast in comfortable silence. Today would be a day of relative relaxation for them. They had planted all there fields, including the rice. They just had to grow, and re were more than enough people looking after the rice so that Kagome and Shippou need not worry until it was time to harvest. They would spend some time checking that there were no animals in the field, and then the rest of the day would be spent doing house work.

Shippou noticed that Kagome was finished with her meal and was getting up to do the dishes. He hurriedly finished his breakfast and went to help her.

"Kagome, please. Will you please let me do the sharp knives? You make me anxious when you clean them."

"Shippou, I have been washing my own knives since before you were born. I know how to handle a knife without slicing my fingers off. Will you please just let it rest and let me do my dishes?"

"But Kagome, **_you are blind_**!!! You need help doing things. Will you let me help you, please." Shippou shouted at Kagome, realizing just a moment to late what he had said.

"Kagome, please. I didn't mean it like that. I just want to help. I just don't want…" Shippou would not get the chance to finish that one precious sentence.

Kagome placed the dishes in the sink and walked out the back door of the kitchen, and walked outside. She would begin working on the fields while she calmed down. Shippou had never talked to her like that, and she had expected more of him. He was six years old, but she liked him. People came to expect more from the people that they liked. She had come to know this, the hard way.

Now she kept everyone at a distance. Hoping that they would not wriggle there way under her armor. She had found out now that she had almost let Shippou into a place where few had ever been. And she would not let it happen again.

* * *

"Kaede, you must come along now. Come on, we have to leave before they arrive." Jonya said to the old miko. He had his small cart all packed up with things that his wife had demanded to not be left behind at any cost. Ridiculous things, like her mothers cooking things, and her clothes, ect. Would not leave without them. 

"No, Jonya. I will not leave with out Kagome-sama. You should be ashamed that you would think of leaving with out warning her. The rest of the village will desert her and hope for the worst, and that is what will happen. She will die."

"Then let her. She will die in any case. There is not enough time for you to reach her and warn her before they arrive. Then you will die too." Jonya was yelling at the miko now. He had had enough of her disobedience. She would recognize that a woman's place was in the home, looking after children, and making sure that her man was content.

"Woman, you will get in the cart now, or you will not have to wait for the horde to come for your death." He accentuated his comment by placing his hand over the hilt of his ancient weapon at his waist. It was so old that you had no idea what it had originally been just by looking at the hilt, but it was heavy.

Kaede ignored the threat to her life coming from the baby that she had delivered over thirty years ago. He would never hurt her, Kaede thought. But that was her mistake.

Jonya pulled his weapon from his obi and inverted it so that the blade was to the sky. He struck the miko across the face. The hilt banging into her jaw causing her to pass out, but not before she slid across the blade. In the process she slashed her own fore head and cheek, and her left eye. Her eye gushed blood and other fluids like so many berries and swollen blossoms that she had used to cure the hurts of others. It deflated and continued to gush blood.

Jonya cursed the kami who had cursed his life and apparently Kaede's. He in-expertly pulled out some cloth from his cart and wrapped it around the left side of her head, jamming a small wad into the socket in the process. There would be no saving the eye, and even if they could, she would never see through that holy portal again.

Jonya finished bandaging the miko as best as he could with her being at and uncomfortable angle on the ground. Then he picked as much of the old, fat, woman up as best as he could. He loaded her into his cart and drove off in the direction of Tokyo, the closest place with military security. The pony struggling under the weight of the small cart.

* * *

Now people. Now do you understand what her problem was. Do I have to spell it out for you. **_She is BLIND._** I hope that that was clear enough for you. If it wasn't, then inform me otherwise and I will proceed to **yell **at you. Some of you did guess what it was, and Kudoes to you. 

AHHHHH. Kiede lost her eye. My way. And in the last chapter can you guess the importance of the necklace. Come on I want predictians. Since I'm finished with the anonomously blind thing, now I need another thing to make you guess about. So R&R and i might update soon.

Love you all loyal readers. _**Kiaya.**_


	7. Hurried Packing and Flight

**Chapter 7**

* * *

**AN:** Hay. How is every person out there. I am kind 'a disapointed with the amount of hits that my last chapter got. Not hardly 300 since the last update. Come on people. READ. It is good for you. Now, remember folks, Kagome is between 16-18 years old. She is blind, and the villagers don't like her. Kaede lost her eye in the last chapter, and the villagers were evacuating without telling Kagome. Shippou is a demon who Kagome has taken under her wing since she found him wandering around in the forest in the snow. It is in the middle of planting season and the rice is growing, and the fields only need to be weeded and watched.

So, read on, story lovers, read on. **AND REVIEW.**

* * *

"Shippou, do you hear anything? Can you hear anything wrong?" Kagome was in the middle of the field, between the bamboo and the bock-chow, feeling with her feet for any weeds that would dare to grow in her field, her hands holding the basket that would be the receptacle of the weeds. 

"What are you going deaf now?" Shippou joked. He was trying to lighten the mood from his mistake earlier that morning, but that comment would get him nowhere but deeper in the proverbial hole he was digging.

"Just shut up and listen."

Realizing that Kagome was not just making idle conversation, Shippou closed his mouth and listened. He heard the little rodents burrowing deep in there burrows, the trees rustling in the wind, and the house creaking on its foundations.

"What is it? I don't hear anything important. Everything is quiet." Shippou realized as he said it, what Kagome had intended for him to hear.

There were no birds chirping, no bugs bothering them, and none of the louder noises that the village made on a daily basis. They were not going about their work, which could only mean one thing.

Kagome had not waited for the boy to realize the implications of silence. She was already running towards her house. Her feet instinctually knowing the way. She slid open the door at the back, and rushed toward her bedroom.

Kagome slid open her bedroom door and quickly made her way to her closet. She slid open the closet door and reached into the back corner of the bottom. She knew exactly what she was looking for and where to find it.

The travel pack that her mother had carried. Kagomes mother had taken Kagome out to camp on the rare nights that they could get away from their chores. Before her mother had died when Kagome was 4. In the bag was always packed her mothers travel futon and a child sized futon, and wet gear of both sizes.

Kagome picked up the pack and ran her hands across the things in the bottom of her closet. She packed things that she knew she would need into the top. A set of clothes for her, extra clothes for Shippou, and a pair of sandals for herself, since she never wore shoes, but she would pack them just incase.

"What can I do?" Shippou had followed and caught up with Kagome and now stood at her door. She knew that he was there, she had heard him pounding across the floor in the other room.

"In your closet, in your room, there is a bag. Get it and meet me in the kitchen. I will have some things for you to pack."

Shippou didn't argue. He rushed to do as she asked.

Kagome rushed to the pantry and took out one of their precious bags of rice and set it out. She also took out some of the early vegetables and a travel pan. She packed the food in the pan, and that would go in Shippous pack. Along with her stash of money.

Kagome left those out for him, shouting at him what to do from the other room. She entered the sitting room and took her koto off of the wall.

Kagome untied her bag of pieces from the ryubi and then detached the feet of the koto from the instrument. She put the feet in a special pouch in the bottom of the bag, having taken out the travel strap.

The travel strap was a double strap that attached to each end of the instrument and then would be slung across the back of a traveling musician. The reason of it being a double strap being that since the instrument was so long (6 feet) it could not be carried regularly. The secondary strap would tighten to the body, while the primary would go all the way to the top of the instrument, and both would attach to the bottom.

"Okay, Shippou. What do you have? You have the bag from the bottom of the closet, the food, the money, and the pot. I have the futons and the clothes, and the koto. Is there anything that you think we are missing?"

"No, we need to be off. I have also packed some of my toys. My top and my statue. Then my wooden mushroom and my lucky leaf."

"Okay, we are on our way. Shippou, will you make sure that the koto doesn't hit the door on the way out, or any trees. I can't have all the strings breaking on the first trip it has had since my mother's time. I will put the protective cover on it when I have the time." Kagome said all of this in a voice that was just a little too sweet to be real. She was trying to make all this out to be nothing more than a game.

"Okay, Kagome." Shippou whispered. He knew the situation and he knew that it was all the worse by Kagome's sweet voice.

They left through the back and headed straight for the bridge. The water was flowing peacefully, belying the haste that they both felt. They headed in the direction of the deep wood at the back of the property.

"Kagome, I thought that you would evacuate in the direction of the rest of the villagers. Why are we heading for the forest?"

"All of the other villagers were already gone by the time that we noticed that they were even packing, which means that what ever is coming will be ready to pick off the stragglers. That would be us. But I am hoping that whoever is out there will be watching the road and not the forest."

They had reached the bridge at the back of the property before they heard something. Laughing and walking. The banter of voices that belonged to men.

"Hurry Shippou, into the cover. We can not be seen. If they see us, they will kill us. Or worse. Guide me."

Shippou took Kagome's hand and lead her into the forest. She had no trouble finding her way in the wood or, even, knowing exactly where she was, it was weather the other people could see her. For all she knew, she could have gone fifty feet into the forest and be hidden by black bamboo, or, at fifty feet, be completely exposed and they would spot her immediately.

Shippou led Kagome into the forest. The underbrush was thin and movement was easy. Shippou kept complete control of the situation, remembering that Kagome carried a six foot instrument that rose two or three feet above her head. He also remembered that Kagome was barefoot, and that her feet were her eyes. She would need those to see. So he avoided brambles and rocks when he could.

When Shippou had reached far enough into the forest that he felt safe, he slowed the pace and let Kagome have the time that she needed to recognize her surroundings and feel her way along the ground with her feet. She slid her feet in front of her body, in a crescent motion. Each foot coming directly beneath her, before she swept it to the left or right and forward. Taking measured steps that knew only what her feet touched.

"We can stop for a little bit if we are quiet and start again soon. We can't stay long, but it should be enough to make sure that we are organized. And to get comfortable."

Shippou set his bag down with a loud clank that he had _not _expected. Kagome looked in his direction with reproach and gently lowered her shoulder bag with their other things. She needed to adjust the strap on the koto, it was to loose, since it had not been adjusted since her mother had worn it. Also she pulled out a folded piece of quilted fabric from the top of her shoulder strap.

"Shippou, I need you to help me put on the cover for the koto. It will slide on the top and the solid piece goes in the front, the ties will face my back. You need to tie them extra tight."

Shippou found a stump to stand on and slid the cover over the top, tying the ties under Kagome's instructions.

Then they heard something that they did not want to hear, especially at that moment. Voices. Men were heading their way. Fast.

* * *

_Oooh._ What could be coming their way. Will Shippou be able to protect Kagome from the possibly dismal fate that just might await them? Or will they be prematurly slain, and I end the story, and we all go home enlightened in some obscure way? Find out in the next chapter of...

Dun, dun, dun. The Lullaby.

**AN: **Don't you just love theatrics? I know that I do. R&R, people. I love the comments that have been left so far. They make me feel so smart. Not meaning to imply that you are all dumb, just that I'm smart.


	8. Terrible Revelation

**AN**: So, how is everyone? I have finals for the semester coning up so I might not be able to write as much as I normally do. I usually update every Wednesday and Saturday so that I can just get it all down and out there. But with finals I might have to restrain my self so that I can actually pass all of my classes.

**

* * *

**

Last Chapter:

Then they heard something that they did not want to hear, especially at that moment. Voices. Men were heading their way. Fast.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 8

**You Might Want To Read This.**

**_PS:_ The reason that there are so many breaks in this chapter is that I have so many points of view. the first part is by Shippou, then Inuyasha, Shippou, Narator, Kagome, Shippou, Narator, Shippou, Kagome. I think that is how it goes. Give me a REVIEW if you have trouble understanding.**

_P.P.S:_ The Narator in the story is basivly me.

**_Helpfule Hint:_ Black Bamboo is a type of bamboo that thrives in the darker parts of a bamboo forest. In peak conditions they can grow up to a foot a day. Most Bamboo comes from a mother plant, basicly with the whole 'sproute' idea. And, did you know that, if you have a sprout of Bamboo and the mother sprout, like, all the way across the wourld, dies, then the other bamboo will die to. It is like, Psychic, plants. Soon they will be talking to us... And demanding food. **

**_"Feed me Semore." (.)(.)_****

* * *

**

Shippou and Kagome stood still as they listened for the direction of the voices. They had heard them and they would not make a noise if it meant that they would get caught.

Shippou crept from the stump that he had been standing on to Kagomes side and touched her hand. She had heard him approach her, but the touch still startled her. He never touched anyone voluntarily. He had held her hand to guide her out to where they were now, but that was all of the extent that she had thought of him.

Shippou picked up the strap of Kagomes bag and placed it in her hand. He could not tell her what to do, because if whoever was out there were demons, then they would defiantly hear them, they might have scented them already, though Shippou had tried to hide their scents as best as he could.

Another big problem was that Kagome was blind and she could not see any of Shippous hints and indications if he made them. All that he could so was start her and hope that she would take the hint.

Luckily she could take a hint, and Kagome shouldered the strap as silently as she could. Shippou went over to his bag and picked it up and shouldered it as well. He went back to Kagome and took her hand to guide her.

Shippou heard the voices again. This time closer. He needed to hide Kagome. She could not find her own hiding spot and if they found her then they were both dead.

Shippou pulled out his lucky leaf from his pocket and glanced sidelong at Kagome. She would never see if he did only a bit of fox magic. She would never know.

So Shippou pulled Kagome behind the stump that he had stood on to cover the koto, and they both crouched down. Shippou stuck his lucky leaf to his forehead and gripped Kagomes hand tight.

"Fox Magic." Shippou murmured under his breath so that Kagome could not even hear him, from right next to him.

"Okay, Kagome. Keep quiet, not a movement or a sound. Or they will find us. We are hidden pretty well, but we are not invisible."

In fact, they were probably in the worst hiding place possible if they were trying to not be seen. But there was no direction that Shippou could lead Kagome without one of them making noise that would be heard.

So Shippou did the next best thing. He squished himself and Kagome, their bags and the koto, into the crevice between the stump and a tree right next to it. He had taken out his focus leaf so that he could do a bit of magic.

To any normal human who walked by and looked in their direction, they would have seen a small clump if black bamboo. Bamboo was all over this forest, so nothing wrong there. The koto would look like an exceptionally large and tall stalk of bamboo in a cluster of larger stalks. Not unusual, the koto would be the mother stalk.

Shippou had said all that needed to be said, in fact, all that he could say. All of his concentration had to be focused on the magic and where the search party would be coming from. In order to make the illusion look real he had to keep an image of the bamboo in his mind, from all angles. Enhancing the places where they would be most likely to view it, at the time that they be likely to view it.

And besides the fact that he needed to concentrate, the searchers sere now entering the clearing.

"Now, Inuyasha. What are you babbling about with all of this 'you are fallowing a scent' thing? Kouga said that there is nothing hear, and that you were just imagining the whole thing."

"Just because I'm a half demon does not mean that my nose is impaired. My nose is better than any wolfs snout. He didn't even scent the air."

The two people who were coming their way were talking to one another. They were a demon and a spiritual man. Shippou wondered how the demon could stand to be so close in proximity to the holy chi that Shippou felt from across the clearing. It was strong.

* * *

"You know what your brother will say when he finds that you wandered based on your senses. He thinks that your senses are inferior to even the wolves. You will be in deep if there is nothing here." 

"There is something here, Miroku. Can't you feel it? I can hear something, but it seems to be echoing around the clearing. I'd think that this forest is haunted if I didn't know better."

"Whatever Inuyasha. I think that it is time that we are headed back, before the others come looking for us. They will be furious if they have to move camp for your benefit. You know that they barely tolerate your presence, let alone your activities."

Inuyasha sighed in acknowledgment of the facts. His brother would kill him if he became a disturbance to the camp. He was loath to just abandon his senses, but he would rather live to see another day.

* * *

Shippou watched the two beings from his hiding place. He anticipated their movements and the extent of their peripheral vision to anticipate the extent of the illusion he needed to project. 

They gave one last check of the clearing, each being as thorough as the other, and then they left as the way they had come.

"Okay, Kagome. We need to still be quiet, but they are leaving. One was a demon, and the other was in possession of great quantities of holy chi, but after a few minutes we should be able to move around freely."

Shippou kept in mind that Kagome had no idea that he had used magic and she had thought that they had just been extremely well hidden, but he forgot that she _didn't_ know that he had hidden there scent. She **also** _didn't_ know that he could sense the holy powers of a trained priest or priestess if they were within range. Well, he forgot, until he had already slipped.

* * *

All demons could sense trained holy powers in a human, seeing as they were natural enemies from one another. That was the reason that demons didn't like human children. There was no telling if they would one day develop the ability to purify the demons, and spiritual power was a spontaneous thing. 

If chi wasn't trained, then the demons could not sense it. If a human was young, then they could develop it. Once a human got older the chances of them developing holy chi became less, until they reached the age of twenty and they had no chance of developing the power at all.

* * *

Kagome let it fly that she had noticed that Shippou had said he could sense one of the men had holy powers. She would not let herself be distracted and talk when she needed to remain quiet. She would not speak until she was sure that she was safe and that her and Shippou could make a safe getaway. 

But mostly, Kagome was in denial. She would never admit to herself that he was different. That he belonged in a different world.

* * *

Shippou tried to not think about what he had just let slip. He didn't want Kagome to have heard what he had just said. If she didn't realize the implications of what he had just said, then she would not ever know that he was a demon, and then he could stay with her, forever. 

So concentrated was he in not thinking on a certain subject, and of the retreating sounds of the two beings, the half demon and the holy man; Shippou didn't realize his true mistake until it was irreversible.

Shippou pulled the energy of his allusion back into his leaf. A magical entity, or a demonic one, never let their energies fly away, unobserved. Magical energies could cause havoc in the world if they were not collected by one being or another.

* * *

Shippou had also realized that with his particular kind of magic, he could place magic in an object, and then if he ever needed to use that same particular magic again, in a tight spot, he could rely on the object for a base of reference and he would not have to start from scratch. He could store as much energy as an object could hold, and then when that object began to ware thin, he could transfer the energy to a like object, almost completely.

* * *

Shippou pulled the illusion of the bamboo back into his leaf, just as two human men entered the clearing. 

They stank of death and the things that followed in its wake. They stank of disease and dirt, of unwashed bodies and the animals that they lived with. Blood stained their clothing and skin, and not all of it was old. Their hair hung in greasy, sticky strands that painted their cheeks with whatever happened to be in it at the time.

Shippou looked on in horror of the two men as they entered the clearing. Even with his magical leaf he would never be able to raise and illusion in time to hide them. They would spot them, and then kill them.

* * *

"Well, well, well. What have we got here? A girly and a cub? How sweet." 

"Kagome, they can see us. These guys are new, and they will kill us." Shippou whispered with real fear in his voice.

Kagome began to shake. She could feel these men. They radiated malice like a spring radiated fresh air. That may have been a bad analogy, but they shared that one concept. Extremes.

Kagome drew a shaky breath and straitened. She would face her death, so her spirit would see what was coning. Even if she had no clue, her spirit would know the faces of the ones who would be her murderers.

* * *

**AN**: Well, how does every body like the new chapter? I personaly enjoied wrighting it. So r&r and tell me how you liked it. 

The reason that some of my chapters are longer and some are shorter, is that I wright them spontaniously, and that I only stop them when there is a natural break. I am trying to not rush the plot, but I dont want ot just drag it out and then have a bunch of bored readers. Plenty of stories have been ruined that way. I should know, since i wind up reading most of them.

Anyways. Stop reviewing that my shapters are to short. **START** Reviewing because you like the story.

So, R&R.

Love you all loyal readers. _**Kiaya**_.

* * *


	9. Run and You Will be Found

**CHAPTER 9

* * *

**

Okay, a little explanation. 

Demons speak a language called Demon. Demons speak the language of their general animal. Demons speak the language of their specific animal (**Ex**: they speak dog, but they also speak terrier). Demons speak the language of their Demon Race (not to be confused with any of the other afore mentioned languages). And intelligent Demons, the ones who are not the stringy brainless animals, they can speak all forms of human, except for Holy Script.

The Holy Script is a little known language that I have just made up.

* * *

**Also Important:**

Seppuku: the ceremonial killing of oneself, usually because of disgrace or shame to your family.

'Cub': a bear child.

'Kit': a fox child.

* * *

**Recap: **

"Well, well, well. What have we got here? A girly and a cub? How sweet."

"Kagome, they can see us. These guys are new, and they will kill us." Shippou whispered with real fear in his voice.

Kagome drew a shaky breath and straitened. She would face her death, so her spirit would see what was coning. Even if she had no clue, her spirit would know the faces of the ones who would be her murderers.

Kagome heard a low growl at her side and first wondered what was going on. Then she remembered that Shippou was at her side. She had forgotten him.

Kagome knew that the kami would never allow her into heaven if she let a child die in her presence. She had to protect him. But how? Kagome knew she had to tell him to run away, but he had already lost one family, how would he deal with loosing another?

"Shippou, you must run away. You must survive. Run into the forest and don't come back. Ever. You must run all the way to Tokyo and find Kaede. She will know what to do. Alright?"

Shippou straightened his spine in shock. Was Kagome telling him to run away from a fight? Was she telling him to repeat his mistakes of a former life? One that he remembered and lived through every night?

* * *

Shippou looked into Kagome's eyes, eyes that tried to meat his own, and he knew that she would never allow him to stay and die with her. He would if he could.

Shippou took Kagome's hand and kissed it. He had started to think of her as something more than just a care taker. And here she was. Being an adult.

Shippou choked on a sob of fear and sorrow. He knew that he had to live. For her sake.

And before he could change his mind and commit Seppuku, he ran away.

* * *

Kagome faced the two men with her head held high. She knew that they would beat her into submission before they killed her. They would never let her die with her pride. Their kind never did.

"Oh. Is the child to scared to face grown men? Pathetic. He will die on his own; you do know that, don't you. Whimpering and crying like a little baby. You stupid woman. Your kind never stops to think about what you tell your children."

The men laughed at the apparently funny joke. They were drawing closer to Kagome and she could feel the evil rolling off in waves. Pushing at the walls that she had built around her person so that she didn't have to feel them. So that she wouldn't have to feel anyone. But they felt that they were strong, and that was projected in their auras.

"She is too stupid to even run. Look at her. Sitting there like a lump on a log. I bet you that she would even let us touch her and she would do nothing. These common women will spread their legs for the every man. Even in the face of death, if they think that it will save their lives."

Shippou ran from the clearing. He followed a scent that he recognized. Anything to get away from the humans. He ran and ran, his mind in a fight or flight mode. He was in such a state that he had reverted to his animalistic ways and was now running on all fours.

After Kagome had found him in the woods, among his rehabilitation had been the proper way to walk. He had learned to talk and walk and be proper, all over again. It was easier and faster that he had already known it, but he had to reawaken those memories, and they were too painful.

Shippou followed the scent that he only half remembered, and did not stop to think. He had to run. Like Kagome had said. He must run. If he found good people within time, they might be able to help his mother.

At that thought Shippou skidded in his tracks. He stumbled and tripped over a log in his path, his momentum throwing him head first into a bush. Shippou cried out in pain.

Did I just think of Kagome as my mother? When had I started thinking of her as that? She is my care giver, but she is human.

The cry of pain issued from a mouth meant to utter words (meaning that Shippou is not an animal.) stopped both Inuyasha and Miroku instantly. They stood still and waited for another sound. It would come when the person who had cried out began to struggle to get free. They would injure themselves more and be unable to stop the sounds that they would make.

Both men listened attentively, though there was really no need for Miroku to listen, what with Inuyasha's ears being so sensitive. They listened, each in their direction, until they heard the rustling of the bushes. Grunting and small, quiet cries of pain lured them in the direction of the struggle.

Greeted with the sight of a tailed bottom, well, the tail was presently flickering in and out of illusion; they looked on as a small body struggled in a patch of thistle berries.

Inuyasha circled around to its other side. They had learned in their years of travel that you never took chances with anything that had an appendage that flickered in and out of existence. Miroku had learned that lesson especially hard… over and over.

While Inuyasha was circling, Miroku was approaching. They both drew closer, quietly. If they startled the little creature, the chances of it either escaping, or attacking, were greater. They had devised this strategy over the years, while Miroku approached, and then grabbed the creature, Inuyasha would circle around, and then if it was dangerous, he would kill it.

The little body that struggled in the bushed struggled harder and harder. When Miroku reached the edge of the bush and began to reach for the legs that kicked out at his grabbing hands, there was a startling growl.

At first Miroku thought that Inuyasha had growled. Inuyasha had that reaction to certain creatures, usually the ones that were most dangerous. But when Miroku looked up at Inuyasha, he saw the same surprise that he felt mirrored in his friends' eyes. The creature in the bushes was making the deafening, and frightening, noise.

* * *

Inuyasha watched as he circled around the bush. Miroku was edging closer when Inuyasha stopped and listened closely. There was a noise that sounded so peculiar. He heard a quiet growling coming from the bushes.

The tail that had previously been not half there, was now completely visible, and might have belonged to that of a porcupine; as suddenly, Miroku reached to grab the feet of the kicking creature. The growl that had been just a warning murmur, grew. It got louder and more aggressive as one might imagine a roar of a larger creature. Spaced throughout the growl were spaced a series of yips and barks.

Inuyasha was trying to remember what language it was when he realized that it was standard Demon. It was a language that all Demons were born knowing, along with that if there own breed and race. All intellectual Demons spoke at least five languages, if they haven't learned that of other Demon races as well. Human, Demon, and that of there own race and subspecies are standard. This cub was speaking common Demon with a few accents of fox.

Inuyasha looked up at Miroku, surprise identical in both pairs of eyes.

When Inuyasha caught what the cub was saying, he froze. He could not believe what he was hearing.

"Cub, stop your gabbing. You will slow down and speak clearly or you will be left here to contemplate your miserable life." Inuyasha growled at the cub in Demon language. He had caught but a few words, but he wanted to make sure that he had heard them correctly, before he rushed off into a mess. It had been so long since he had even heard Demon that he was having trouble speaking it. He was, after all, not fully Demon.

"My caretaker is under attack from humans. She will be killed if you do not help her. Please, **save** her." The cub was speaking fluent human now, having caught the scent of Miroku.

Miroku grabbed the feet of the cub and pulled him out of the thorny bush. Covered in small cuts and splinters, the cub did not flinch when Miroku brushed a large sliver in the cubs arm. He stared; bug eyed, at his potential saviors, his potential means of demise, pleading eyes being that of a Demon on the brink.

Finally getting a good look of the young one, Inuyasha had not been completely accurate in his identification of the 'cub.' He should have properly identified him as a 'kit.' A young fox. Any demon with the brain capacity to speak and understand the human language would have balked at being identified as a different race than they were, even a Demon as young as this one. A testament to the desperation he would be feeling.

"Where is this caretaker? The damsel in distress. How may we save her?" Miroku asked the kit, having identified the pronoun 'her' as being female.

Inuyasha shook his head in mild disgust; he didn't have time to feel shamed with his friends' behavior. He needed to find the location of the Demoness who was in trouble. He could not let one of his kind fall at the hands of the humans. Especially if they were the humans that Inuyasha and the rest of the group had followed.

"Tell me where your mother is. We will find her." Inuyasha used his commanding tone that had received such a response from the kit just moments ago, hoping that the kit would obey him long enough for them to be of some help.

"That way." He pointed in the direction that his own scent had come from. Well, in the direction that all of their scents had come from. South.

"I followed your scent. I think it was because I could smell the Demon in you, and that is why I ran in this direction. Even though we were just concealed from you."

"You were veiled from us? When? Where?"

"We were in the clearing. We were hiding in the bamboo in the corner, by the trees. When you left, humans came, and now they have 'Ome."

**(AN: **Shippou is distraught and on the verge of sobbing, he can't properly pronounce Kagome's name. So he just stuttered out the first thing that he could. That being 'Ome.)

"In the clearing?" Miroku asked.

At Shippous nod, both Miroku and Inuyasha looked at one another. They had left the clearing twenty minutes ago. If they did not hurry, she would be dead by the time they made it back. If she was not dead already.

* * *

"Miroku, hurry along as fast as you can. You carry the kit. I'll run ahead and see what I can do."

"Miroku, hurry along as fast as you can. You carry the kit. I'll run ahead and see what I can do." The last part of Inuyasha's statement was so cryptic that Miroku could not have missed the meaning behind the words if he had tried.

She might be dead.

Miroku nodded his understanding and watched as Inuyasha pounced high into the tree tops. He knew that the little weight of the kit, and even the slightly more substantial weight of himself, would not have fazed his demon friend. Inuyasha could carry many times the weight of Miroku and still be able to travel quickly. But if he arrived to a scene of damage and devastation, they would not expose the kit to that.

"Come now, child. We must hurry if we are to be any help at all to your mother." Miroku said in as caring a voice as he ran and carried the kit at the same time. Occasionally he had to slow down to find the same direction as they had come from, but the kit would point the direction, having got the scent in his mind, and they were on their way.

* * *

Shippou was not stupid. He knew what they were doing. They were not sure that the humans had not killed Kagome, so they were trying to keep him from the sight. But that would be no good. If they spilled a drop of her blood, Shippou would smell it before the half demon could.

And just as Shippou was thinking that, he smelled it. Blood.

* * *

**AN**: So, what does everybody think? I know that it isn't really vulgar, but I felt slightly uncomfortable writing what the bandits said to Kagome. I mean, I have no trouble reading or writing smut or lemons, but, obscene **words** set me off to no end. Or even the implication of a vulgar act. But sex, to me is not vulgar. In a strange way. But it is not necessarily the sexiest thing, either.

That was my philosophy for the day. Confucius say: Waite, Confucius if Chinese, not Japanese. But anyways, he says that sex is sex, but not necessarily sexy. (**P.S**. That is not from Confucius, it is from me.)

If you happen to find a spelling mistake, be sure to let me know. I think that I got them all, but there are always the ones that the computer and multiple proof reads will never find. Like the word bear. How do you spell that word in the context of the animal, you know, Grrrawr. Especially let me know if I forgot to capitalize the word Demon, in any place. That is a **very** important fact to me.

So, anyways, R&R. I like reviews. And no, Lill' JJ. You are never allowed to criticize any of my work if it has anything to do with the length. That goes for all of you. (Glairs) (**JK**).

Love you all, loyal readers.

**_Kiaya.

* * *

_**


	10. Unexpected InSIGHT

**Chapter 10**

**

* * *

**

Vocab:

Hanyou: This is a half Demon. 

Third Eye: The Third Eye is a second sense of sight. It is seeing with your mind. Some spiritual people have this, and those at peace with themselves.

* * *

**Recap:**

Shippou was not stupid. He knew what they were doing. They were not sure that the humans had not killed Kagome, so they were trying to keep him from the sight. But that would be no good. If they spilled a drop of her blood, Shippou would smell it before the half Demon could.

And just as that thought was passing through his mind, he smelled it. Blood.

* * *

Kagome knelt in the clearing. Her head spinning in all directions at once.

She had never thought of herself as particularly stupid. But now that she looked back on her and Shippous actions, she cursed herself. They should never have let down their guard. She should have never placed all of her trust in a child. Not trying to play down the help that he had been to her, but he had been just too young to be relied upon.

And now, here she was. About to be raped by two of her own species, even though she had known not to generalize and think that only Demons or humans were all good or evil. She would be all alone, with no one to remember her.

Taking a slow breath, Kagome tried to zone out the two men who were slowly coming closer to her. They were being weary of traps and any surprises that she might have. But there was no need for that. She had none, she was defenseless and useless. And alone.

Trying to quiet her raging thoughts, Kagome concentrated on nothing. But try as she might, thoughts popped up in her head without her wanting. Her minds eye was finding ways to vent her turmoil, and she could feel the men drawing closer.

In her minds eye she was viewing something from above. She could see the differences in what could only be color. The colors were constantly moving in all directions, swirling and whipping around a central point. Two of them approached a third. The third being the most anxiously moving blob.

Centering her thoughts on these images in her minds eye, Kagome began to ponder her sanity in times of stress. Why was she seeing this? Did it have some deeper, spiritual meaning? Or was her mind just trying to come up with an explanation of something.

As Kagome watched the singular blobby, she noticed that it grew stronger when she paid attention to it. She could 'see' no physical change, but she knew, she could feel that it was stronger.

So concentrated was she on her mental battle, Kagome didn't notice that the men were drawing closer. They were right on her now; they could reach out and touch her. She was helpless to stop them if they did so.

And as one of the men reached out to touch her, with a knife no less, so did one of the blobs reach to touch the other. The man cut a slice in her left forearm, and as she felt the pain of that cut filter through her concentration, she saw the swirls of the singular blob flare up in another color with more agitation.

Kagome could not understand what was going on. Why was she seeing these things? Was there a greater purpose that she was meant to understand?

And in her head Kagome thought _'Please let there be something more. Let there be a reason.'_

She concentrated harder. There was something here that she was meant to find. She was meant to understand. She knew it in her soul.

Looking around the blobs, Kagome reached out for the stump at her side. She knew that it was there. She could feel its presence to her right. Strong and sturdy. And as she reached out, so did her favorite blob. She touched the tree, and then… something amazing happened.

As Kagome's physical hand touched the stump, her mind came alive with thoughts that she had never thought. Her new way of sight showed her a new blob, except this one was not blobby. It was perfectly cylindrical in shape and it stayed a constant color.

And then it came to her. She, Kagome, was seeing for the first time. Not with her eyes, but with her mind, a Third Eye.

* * *

Inuyasha stopped as he scented the air. He was still in the treetops, and he could not follow the ground scents as such. Now he was just following the scents of 'human' that he caught on the wind. He had to calculate the wind factor and then time, and then he might find the clearing again.

The reason why he was going to so much trouble of the calculations was because it was faster. It would have taken ten minutes to find her on the ground, but in the treetops, he could cut the time in half. If he did his math right.

Inuyasha had almost completed his calculations and was about to take back to the hunt when he smelled blood. It belonged to a female, and it was fresh. There was not a lot of it, which meant that she had just been cut. And if they had only cut her, then the humans were intending to torture her. And she would be in for the long hall.

And if Inuyasha had stayed just a second longer, he would have been able to determine the race of the female. He could have determined if she were human, Demon, or something else.

* * *

Kagome listened to the thoughts that were invading her mind. She was not thinking them; she had never thought something as complex as what was in her mind now.

It was images, like what was in her Third Eye. And it was sound, but not the sound of the forest. And it was a feeling. The feeling was the easiest to describe; it was like standing in the sun. Just standing there and soaking up all of the light, and feeling. That was the closest she had ever come to this feeling, and that was the only way she would dare to describe it.

In her mind, Kagome received a feeling of a question. It was not asked, but it was like someone had drawn a giant symbol in her mind that meant 'what?' There was no word, or sound, but there was a feeling of puzzlement.

Kagome thought of the image that she had just seen in her minds eye. The one of the three blobs, and then of one of them attacking the blob that was her.

* * *

Shippou hung his head in shame. He had been too late and now the humans were hurting Kagome. He could smell her blood floating in the wind. They were still a ways away and her scent was discernible even at the distance.

She was hurt because he was incapable of protecting those closest to him. He had lost his father, mother, and all his other family. And now he was going to lose his friend also.

* * *

"Miroku, what are you doing. Why do you have a kit? Where did you steal him? If you took him from his mother, she will not be happy when she finds you." Kouga looked on as the stupid monk ran with a kit in his arms.

They had known that the human was unstable from the get-go, but if he took a Demon child, he was even crazier than the group had originally thought. Well, a monk who chose to travel and work with Demons was insane anyways, but then so was the idea of traveling with a hanyou.

"Kouga, you need to travel as fast as you can ahead of us, and catch up to Inuyasha. You must help him protect the kit's mother. She is under attack by humans, and all she has is Inuyasha against them. _If_ he has made it there in time."

Kouga took one look at the monk and the kit and then ran in the direction that the kit pointed. The face of the child told a story of hurt and pain that few but he would understand. He did not need to be told twice to help the kit, even if it did come from the monk.

Scenting for a trail to go on to find the place of the assault, Kouga smelled the scent of blood. He frowned when his mind had processed all of the components. It was female, it was fresh, she was in panic, and it was _not_ Demon.

Kouga hurried his pace when he scented more blood, meaning that she was bleeding out of more than one place now.

* * *

**AN**: Tada. You don't have to applaud. I know, it is brilliant.

You should really send me a review and tell me what you think of the Third Eye business. I wasn't really sure that it was a good idea, and I still am not, but then I got an idea. And I decided to go with it. So you really need to tell me what you think, or if you have a different version of the plot that you think that I should have taken.

**On a more personal note:**

My sisters boy-friends' father, basically my father-in-law, he died last week. That is why I did not update on Wednesday; I had to go to his funeral. He was exposed to Agent Orange when he was in Nam, and he died a very painful death. He did two tours in Nam, and when he finally retired, he became a Probationary officer. Eight of his former probationers attended his funeral.

My uncle, Mike, he was exposed to Agent Orange when he was in Nam, also. And he has now been diagnosed with cancer. The same kind that killed my father-in-law.

R&R

Love you all, loyal readers.

_**Kiaya. **_


	11. Creating a Barrier

**Chapter 11**

**Vocab:**

**Recap:**

Kagome is being attacked by two of her own race. They will torture, rape, and then kill her if Inuyasha does not show up on time.

Inuyasha is an idiot and has not realized that the person he is being sent to rescue is a human. Will he recognize her when he sees the 'damsel in distress?'

Miroku and Shippou are running as fast as the monks' legs can carry them. Shippou thinks that he has failed even his newest friend as he did his family in the past, and Miroku is pondering if he will be blamed for steeling the kit if his mother finds them.

Kouga is in pursuit of Inuyasha, he is meant to help rescue the 'Demoness' who is Shippous 'mother.' Will he allow Inuyasha to rescue a human when he realizes who, or more precisely, what she must be? Or will he help save such a fragile and innocent creature.

And finally… Where the heck is Sesshomaru? (Fan girls feint and scream his name.)

Kagome showed the tree stump what was in her mind, the image of the men/blobs who were attacking her physical body. They darted in and would slice her flesh in one spot or another. They were testing her, and she would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her pain.

But in actuality, there was little pain to be felt at the moment. She knew that later, if she happened to survive, she would be unable to move due to the pain, but that was a thought for later. Now, her concentration could not be broken.

Kagome waited for the tree stump to process what she had showed to it. As her own mind processed what it sent back to her, she almost smiled. It had compared these men to birds and bugs who would dig into its bark and attempt to tunnel into its heart. And it showed her an image of how it saw itself. The birds were pricks in her trunk, and tickling in her limbs. And the bugs were crawling under the ground, searching for a week spot in her flesh, waiting for a time so that they may tunnel in and eat her from her heart out.

Kagome saw an image of a solid colored cylinder. Then the image changed. Somehow the tree took her into itself; it showed her how it used its life essence to create a different colored barrier around its heart.

Another symbol like thought was painted into her mind. This one thinking 'why do you not protect yourself?'

Kagome took the tree in to herself and showed it that she had nothing like the barrier. She also tried to express that she had no idea how to create one either.

All of a sudden, Kagome lost control of her body, her mind and motor functions were no longer hers. As she began to panic, Kagome took a look at what the tree was doing, exactly.

The tree was examining the image that she had shown it earlier, the one of the other blobs attacking her blob. It was somehow pocking at the color that surrounded it, trying to push it into some semblance of a shape.

As soon as Kagome had the idea of what she was supposed to do, the tree stump left her consciousness. It left her mind altogether. If Kagome failed and she died, the tree would not be in her mind to go down with her. This was a 'learn as you go' test, and failure would mean death.

Kagomes body had taken quite a beating while she had been absorbed in her own mind. The men were becoming ruthless and unobservant of their surroundings as they tried to rile a reaction, any reaction, out of her body.

Kagome pulled her mind back into her body, so that she was aware of all her body parts. She no longer viewed herself from above, but submerged herself in the darkness that she now likened to piece and quiet, as being alone in her own comfortable mind.

The pain was so intense that she almost cried out as soon as she was completely herself. She could feel the blood drip down her face, and the nicks of the knife as it pierced her skin. They were striking out randomly, not caring if they hit a vital spot, or barely nicked her, or missed her altogether.

Kagome found that, as hard as she tried, she was unable to move her own body. She had thought that if she returned, she might be able to have a better feel of herself to create the barrier from. But she was wrong. She could not do it. She would not be able to create the barrier that she had been so sure of moments ago. She had imagined the whole thing. She was going insane under the attack of her body. She was defenseless.

And then one of the men took the attack to the next level. He pushed her just hard enough to knock her traitorous body over. She could not move, and now she was laying on the ground.

Taking the knife, one of the men reached forward, quick as a snake, and sliced through her obi. He also cut through the tie at her left hip, and cut slightly deeper at her right hip, to cut through the tie that was under the cloth. And then her clothes were nothing more than pieces of cloth laying on top of her body.

"You see, I told you that she would most likely not even raise a finger to defend herself. All common women are sluts and whores."

Kagome was not able to move as one of the men drew closer to her. She watched him approach as she shook in fear. If only she were able to touch the tree stump again, it would help her.

The man stood directly above her now, his eyes taking in her limp, lifeless form and yet the terrified expression on her face.

"I think that we have just about scared her to death." The man told his companion. And then he drew back his foot and kicked her.

He aimed for her side. It would force her to role over so that on the second kick he would have a clear shot of her belly. He aimed it perfectly, hitting her so that she both rose off of the ground and almost choked on her own saliva. She landed on her back, what was intended, and her kimono fell open, to expose her figure to the lust filled eyes of the two humans.

Kagome just managed to turn her left hand. She could feel something at the back of her hand, touching her flesh, calling to her. And when she finally lay her palm upon it, she almost cried.

It was her tree stump. The very same one. She knew. It was a root that rose just an inch out of the ground, but that was all she needed.

Kagome could not create her own barrier. As she had thought she could, she just did not know how. So she would 'borrow' the one that the tree already had.

She felt it sigh in exasperation, and it relinquished its own protection, placing it around her heart.

Kagome felt the barrier under her flesh. She could feel the pulsating pressure as it took a piece of her, and then she was unable to feel it as a separate part of her. Now it had become a limb, as opposable as her thumbs.

One of the men rid himself of his clothing; she heard the cloth as it fell to the ground. She knew when she heard the other man, the one standing farther off; she knew that they thought her broken. But they were far from correct, and she would show them how much of a common woman she was. Some of the strongest people she knew were common women.

Kagome heard the man groan as he fell to his knees right in front of her. Grunted out with the impact. She could feel his rancid breath as he leaned in closer, slowly. His hands were placed on either side of her body, and his naked body was mere inches above her own.

She waited until the last minute, when she was sure to hit him the hardest. And as his elbows bent to lower his body on top of hers; she raised her hand out to push him off.

Inuyasha watched as he ran. He could not miss the clearing. If he overshot it, it could mean the difference between life and death for this woman. He would see the clearing before he would hear anything, and then it would be still precious seconds where he would see her and be just out of reach of helping.

And that is how it proceeded.

Inuyasha spotted the clearing, and he adjusted his coordinates accordingly. Within sight, he poured out speed and strength that he had thought already used up. He was soon able to see into the clearing. What he saw infuriated him.

He saw the man kick her in the stomach, and as she landed, he watched as her kimono fell open to reveal her most precious aspects to the humans.

He could smell the lust of the men as they caught sight of gold. Her breasts, perfect and perky, accented by the double loop necklace she wore. She had a flat, tone stomach, which was not the overly concave of the starving or unhealthy. Perfect hips for a man to want to…

Inuyasha stopped his line of thought as he realized he was losing momentum while he gazed at her body. The man closest to her had already undressed himself, and was lowering himself toward his goal.

Inuyasha pumped his legs as fast as he could, he would reach her before she suffered any more indignity than she had.

But he knew that he would not make it in time, he would be too late to save her from the defilement of being unwontedly touched. She would be penetrated by uncleanliness, with her savior just seconds away, he would be watching, franticly trying to reach her, but knowing that he had failed.

The man was hovering over her now. He was about to abuse her pore body in a way that no woman should be abused. He rested his hands on either side of her body for leverage. He rested his lower half of his body solely on his knees.

And at the last possible second, Inuyasha saw her fingers twitch, just before her hand shot out, directed at the humans chest.

In the split second that it took his brain to realize the futile effort that her attempt would have, his eyes deceived him as he watched the human be slammed back, into the air.

Kouga ran as fast as he could. He smelled blood in the air. It was puzzling, but that was something that he would debate with himself later. She was human, but the kit had clamed her for his mother. He would rescue her, and then he would decide what to do with her.

The half breed was on the right track, he could smell Inuyasha's scent wafting down from the branches. Kouga himself would never understand why dog Demons, not that far removed from wolf Demons, would be fastest in the air, while his kind could hardly climb a tree.

There was magic in the area. Kouga could feel it. It was not threatening to him in particular, but it was meant as a form of self defense. It would restrain anyone found to be a threat.

Kouga could see the clearing; it was right ahead of him. Looking up, he could also see Inuyasha, speeding in the treetops. They would reach it at about the same time.

Concentrating on the clearing, Kouga saw the man closest to the woman, his stance. It was that of a predator. He was hunting her. And there was nothing he could do until he got there to save the woman. He was forced to watch her beating, and smell the lust rolling off of him.

Kouga watched the man as he was about to rape the woman. He might get there in time. If he used all of the power that he had.

He poured out all of his strength into his speed. He would make it.

Kouga watched as the woman raised her hand to try futilely to push the heaver male off of her. Then, suddenly, Kouga was slammed by a wall, flinging him back hundreds of yards, trailing a crater where his feet dragged.

(AN: He had been running at an indeterminable speed, and then the wall expanded at an even more indeterminable speed, pushing all the people out of the clearing, causing Kouga to go flying.)

Inuyasha watched as a barrier was erected, slamming the two human men out of the clearing. Then he heard a 'thud' with a sort of undertone that he didn't know how to describe. After a moment, Inuyasha was able to recognize the undertone as that of Kouga being rebound of the barrier into his own body shaped trench.

Inuyasha concentrated back on the barrier. It was made by the woman in the center, the one who was being attacked.

Reaching out, Inuyasha felt to see what kind of barrier it was. It didn't repel him, except for the pressure that he put on it. It was solid and translucent purplish in color.

He had never seen a barrier like this. It was strangely different from that of the miko of the city, or the Demons of the wilderness. _What was she?_

Miroku ran all the way to the clearing. Just before he was able to view it he heard the unmistakable of something scaring the earth. Like there might be a battle in progress. He defiantly did not want to arrive in the middle of one of those if it involved either Kouga or Inuyasha.

When he caught sight of the clearing Miroku slowed his sprint to a jog. He threw a look around trying to spot all that had happened in his tardiness.

Kouga was lying in his own crater not far away from a pinkish/purplish barrier that circled the perimeter of the clearing he and Inuyasha had left earlier. Two humans lay unconscious, their backs resting against the trees that they had been slammed into. Inuyasha perched in the top of a tree on the verge of the barrier. He was examining the barrier, touching it with his open palm.

The kit in Mirokus arms struggled to be free. If Miroku let him go, and he ran into the barrier, there was a chance that he would be purified if this barrier was created by a miko. Or he could become possessed, or severely injured. There was any number of things that could happen if he ran into the barrier.

"Inuyasha, what happened? I thought that you were going to save the damsel in distress."

But as Miroku drew closer he spotted the naked form of the woman in the center. Her clothes were still on her arms, just baring her front. But then the word just is a divisive word. Her breasts and sex were exposed to the open air. Her eyes that were blank didn't seem to mind though.

Miroku heard the kit in his arms whimper and too late he realized that he had gazed long enough for the kit to also see the woman in the same manor.

"Hold on to the kit Miroku, the barrier is holy. He won't be able to get through."

But the warning came just a moment too late as the kit threw himself from Mirokus arms, strait for a head on collision. But he never collided.

"Kagome." The kit shouted as he passed through.

The barrier opened a hole just before he collided and closed immediately after him. The kit rolled out of his lung and into a sprint until he reached her body, working franticly to cover her from the gaze of the men outside.


	12. A New Voice

**Yaaah. **I am here. I never abandoned you. I was just Super Bussy. Yah that is my supper power. So, read and enjoy. and dont forget to review.

**

* * *

**

**New Voices**

**

* * *

**

"Hold on to the kit Miroku, the barrier is holy. He won't be able to get through."

But the warning came just a moment too late as the kit threw himself from Miroku's arms, strait for a head on collision. But he never collided.

"Kagome." The kit shouted as he passed through.

The barrier opened a hole just before he collided and closed immediately after him. The kit rolled out of his lung and into a sprint until he reached her body, working franticly to cover her from the gaze of the men outside.

* * *

"Kagome, my, my. What a pretty name that is. How old are you child?"

"I am 17. Who are you? Where am I? What am I doing hear?"

Tsk tsk, came the voice. "Come now child, you must be calm. In a place like this, it does not bode well for stress."

Kagome took a deep breath. She was in a place unfamiliar to her with no recollection of how she got there. Just what a blind person always feared, getting lost in unfamiliar territory.

Kagome took another deep breath and tried to think clearly to analyze her situation. The air was warm, and there was no wind, so that meant that she was probably inside. She heard no movement so she was probably alone with this woman, and she could not tell if she was lying down or standing or sitting, which probably meant that she was injured or drugged. And she had no memory of what had happened last, try as hard as she might to remember.

Giving up, Kagome asked the woman, "A place like what. I can't seem to understand. Why is it so quiet, and why can't I feel my body." Kagome lost her cool before she had finished her questioning, and stopped at a second 'tsk tsk' from the woman.

"Be calm. You are safe for the moment, though there is not much time. The people who came to your rescue, though they were obviously not needed, they are outside. They are waiting for you, and Shippou is by your side. When you return, you must be calm and try not to threaten the men who will try to help you. You must go with them. Stick with the one who will tolerate you. He will speak for your presence. They will take you where you need to go."

"What are you talking about? Who are these people? And why must I follow these men?" when Kagome said the word 'men' she remembered it all. The men who had attacked her. They had violated her and tried to rape her.

Now Kagome was dizzy. Her head hurt and she was feeling sick.

"You have been here to long with out the proper training. You must leave or you will do permanent damage. Now, go back. And remember to keep your secrets from all but the kid. He will be your eyes, and he can be trusted. The others might be trusted later, but until then you must be on your guard. When you don't look them in the eye, which will be taken for meekness, go with it. I will talk with you again. But before that there is something that you must do."

* * *

"What is going on here?" Came a voice from behind all of the men gathered at the edge of the barrier. The guys spun around in surprise at being snuck up on.

* * *

Realizing that someone was standing at her side, Kagome turned her head to hear him better. He was talking to her and she knew what he was saying, but she just couldn't understand him.

"Kagome, can you hear me. I am saying that there are Demons out side of this barrier and I don't know what they want from us. Two of them are the first men from earlier, but now there is their whole party. I can only see four of them, but there may be more out in the woods. What are we going to do?"

There was fear in the voice of the person she knew. Who was this? This was Shippou. The boy that she was looking after because he had no one else. He was afraid of the people outside of the barrier.

"We must go with them Shippou. They will lead us to where we need to be. They might not even want us to go with them, but we must go with them. We must."

Kagome had no idea what she was saying. She was in a state of shock and she knew what needed to be done, but the way that she was speaking was certain to scare the boy.

"Kagome, what are you talking about. We can't go with them. They are Demons. You are human…"

Shippou paused. Kagome lay still. Not a sound was made in the barrier.

"I mean, we are human." Shippou whispered.

"It is okay Shippou. I have guessed for quite some time that you are not human. And that is okay. I don't care if you are a Demon. I would have preferred for you to have told me in a less hectic manner. But at least now you know that I know."

Having something to focus on besides the men outside of the barrier, Kagome was becoming again the calm collected person that Shippou was accustomed to. She was going to tell him that all of her ramblings from before were that of a mad woman who had just been attacked by evil men. She was going too tell him that she was sorry for scarring him and that she and he were going off on their own way to Tokyo.

"Now Shippou. What I said before still stands. We need to go with these people, Demons or no. They will eventually lead to our destination. I'm not entirely sure where that is yet, but we will know when we get there that that is where we need to be."

"Please Kagome. I can not travel with these Demons. They will take you away from me and make me go with them alone. It would be awful. I can't stand for that to happen."

"Don't you worry Shippou. I will keep you by my side as long as possible. There is at least one among the men that we must trust. He will be the one who is _for_ our traveling with the group. We must stay with him.

"But I can't go with them alone. I need for you too come with me. I need a guide and an alibi. Without you, I don't know what I will do. I need you to be my eyes, and my reaction to all that I can't see."

"Kagome, you can't hide that you are blind from a group of Demons. They will know."

"Then I will just have to be an extremely stupid human."

There was a moment of silence as Shippou considered all that Kagome had asked of him. She wanted him to lie to a group of travel hardened Demons and a monk. To lie to them who survived by there way of observation.

"Okay. I will come with you. But it will not be easy. To keep that big of a secret. And if they find out, then we will most likely die."

"I know Shippou. But we need to do this. I know it." Kagome whispered. She knew that she was asking a lot of him. But it could not be helped. She needed him. As he had said earlier that same day. She needed people to do stuff for her, even if she did not want them too. They would always do stuff for her.

And right now she needed Shippou to do something for her. And she was admitting it.

"Okay. We need a plan of action." Then silence reined supreem

All of the emotions had calmed down inside of the barrier and Kagome was now in complete control of the situation.

"What about the koto. How will you carry it? You needed me to guide you around the low hanging branches. And they will notice if I am telling you to duck as often as you will need. How will we travel with that? And the guiding of the directions? How will you know which way to travel? They will want to travel in silence as much as possible. So I can't talk to tell you which direction to go."

"It's okay Shippou. We will figure it out one step at a time. Let's just think about the first problem."

After a few minutes of thinking, neither of them had come up with a solution to any of the obvious problems that would be faced on this journey.

"Kagome. They are starting to look at the barrier funny. I think that they want us to come out."

* * *

"God. When will they come out? They have been talking in there for an hour now. We should just break down the barrier." Inuyasha said.

They were growing impatient now that the girl was awake and she was talking. She had not even once looked in their direction. Maybe she did not even know that they were there. Maybe the kit had not even told her about them.

Well she needed to pay attention to them and come out of her barrier; she had some explaining to do.

* * *

Bang, bang, bang. One of the Demons had approached the barrier. He looked at the occupants in agitation and raised his fists and slammed it against the barrier. He held back none of his strength. He wanted them to come out.

Kagome looked in the direction of the noise. Even though there was nothing for her to see, it was easier to hear in the direction that she was looking.

"One of them is banging on the barrier." Shippou was scared again. He crawled forward into Kagome's lap and snuggled up to her. That is how Kagome got her idea.

"I will carry you. That is how you will stay close to me and you will let me know when I need to duck or which direction to look when they want me, without saying anything. You can ride on my shoulder and tap the top of my head when I need to duck and turn my head when I need to look in a certain direction."

"Kagome, I way twenty pounds. For maybe the first hour you will stager under my weight and the weight of the koto and both of the bags. After that you will not be able to walk."

"I'll only carry one of the bags."

"No you will be carrying your bag and I will carry mine. And you will be carrying me. So you'll be carrying both of the bags. You won't be able to last."

Kagome sighed in exasperation.

"Then we will have to drop all of the stuff. I need to carry you. You need to be by me. That is the only solution."

* * *

"Inuyasha, you are scaring the kit. Look at him. He has crawled into the girls arms and keeps throwing wide eyes in our direction." Miroku objected.

"Then they need to come out. I can't stand not being able to hear what they are saying."

"Then you should watch them. If you watch closely you can see what they are saying."

Sesshomaru watched as the girl and the kit made decisions about what was to come. He had not caught the beginning of the decision, but he caught the part about how they 'needed to stay together and she would carry him and her koto.' Yata yata. They would leave some of their things behind and travel.

They would want to travel with their group. They would find that traveling with a bunch of Demons was not an easy task.

"We need to find out how the young kit wound up in the care of a human girl." Sesshomaru said.

"So we will just interrogate the girl." Kouga assisted.

"The poor girl was just almost raped by two thugs. How would you take to an intense questioning after that ordeal? If you interrogate her she might break."

Miroku was the most sympathetic of the bunch. He was human and a monk. So when it came to talk of brutality, usually instigated by Kouga or Inuyasha, he was the one to put down those ideas.

"Then how will we find out how she got the kit. He can't have gone to the girl on his own. And his parents can't have left him to her. The kitsune just don't do that with their young." Inuyasha was still learning about the different kinds of youkia since he had ignored the formal tutoring on youkia that his brother, Sesshomaru, had offered many years ago. But in this case, on the nature of the kitsune, he was correct.

"Well. We will just have to get them to travel with us so that we will be able to gather the information. Besides they will be overjoyed to be invited to travel with us if we explain the dangers of the humans nearby."

Kouga was sometimes capable of thought. He could deduce the nature of humans, and track them to where they wanted to go.

And that was how Sesshomaru manipulated his pack into doing what he wanted them to do. Making them think that they wanted the girl and the kit to travel with them, if only to obtain information.

* * *

"They are talking to each other and looking in our direction. What should we do?"

Now that Kagome knew that he was a Demon, he could behave as he normally would have. He snuggled into the crook of her arm and neck looking for the tightly confined space of the den he had been raised in.

Shippou had dropped his glamour earlier and had not put it back on. His hair was the same as ever, a red pony tail on the top of his head tied by the bow that he had bought at the festival a few weeks ago. His eyes were still emeralds. And he still had a brush of freckles across his nose and forehead. But then his differences became apparent. His teeth had changed, becoming sharper and slimmer than the blunt block human teeth. His nose had become sharper and slimmer, with a more pointed tip. His ears had disappeared from the side of his head, to reappear in the form of little triangles on the top of his head, just behind his bangs, but before his long hair. His pants had mysteriously developed a rip in the behind, to reveal a curly fluffy tail. The tail was the same color as his hair, a light red, except the tail was brushed with blond at the tip.

"What is this? You never cowered when I thought that you were human. Why would you start now?" Kagome could not see the changes that Shippou had assumed. But she could feel the brush of his tail against her arm and the paws for feet that he had also revealed.

"I did too. I cowered. But I just didn't want you to find me. So I hid to do it. Now that I am in my true form, I can be true to my instincts and cower into the nearest person. That being you. Do you feel my tail? It is all limp because I am afraid. When I am happy or excited it gets curly and stiff."

Kagome started to pet his tail as she hugged the little kit to her chest and neck. She leaned back into the trunk of the stump behind her. And then in her head she remembered. She had borrowed the barrier of the tree. The stump needed it back if it was going to grow again.

Kagome turned to that she could hug both Shippou and touch the trunk with her other hand. In her mind she could feel the weak acknowledgment of the trunk. It acknowledged her presence, but it could barely respond. She had kept the barrier for too long and a fungus had started to move into its heart.

Kagome inhaled sharply.

* * *

The girl was holding the kit and after a few seconds she turned so that she was also touching the stump behind her with her other hand. The stump was about four feet high, and had a crevice in the middle like two trees had joined at the beginning of their growth. A large covered parcel rested in this crevice. Now they were one stump that had once been one tree.

The palm that was touching the stump of the tree all of a sudden began to glow a light color. The color could not be determined through the barrier, because the barrier was a light purplish color, but the air around the girls hand began to glow with light.

"Hay, Sesshomaru, what is going on in there?"

* * *

Inside of the tree, Kagome saw the fungus that had wormed its way into its heart. It was black and green and slimy. Kagome had to search in order to find a part of her stump that was 'conscious.' In her mind she felt the resignation of the tree as it felt the fungus spread at an amazing rate.

When the stump realized that she was there, in its consciousness, Kagome felt its distress as it pushed at her mind, trying to make her leave. It didn't want her there.

'Why?' she asked it.

And in her mind the tree answered. She saw the fungus spread to the little part of the tree that was left, the part that she was having conversation with, and then the fungus jumped from its consciousness and into hers. In her mind she saw it eat away at her mind.

And then she found a different part of the tree, like looking at a different angle. That part told her that the fungus was just like the tree. That it too had a consciousness. That it could be talked to.

* * *

Watching the girl with one glowing hand and one not glowing hand was disconcerting. The hand that did not glow was holding the kit, and if Miroku's thoughts were correct, then if the hand holding the kit began to glow, he would be purified. That glow had the tell tale mark of a priestess.

"What the hell does she think she is doing?" Miroku whispered.

* * *

Shippou saw the glow coming from the hand touching the tree, and he saw that it was the same color as the barrier. The barrier had let him pass through without hurting him, so he relaxed with the thought that the light glowing of Kagome's hand would not hurt him.

* * *

Well this is interesting, thought Sesshomaru. He had watched as the girl first began to glow, and due to his superior eye sight, he could see that the whole body of the girl was aglow with the same color as her hand. Just that her hand was the link between her and the tree. This was curious.

Her whole body glowed, but her hand was like a conduit and had no place to go except for the direct air around it. Once the energy reached her arm, it had a place to go, the rest of her body. And if one were to look at her feet they would see that they glowed as well from the release of the energy into the ground.

The same was true to his energy. With his energy whip. He made the air around his hand hum and buzz with his energy, and then he could direct and control it. This girl just didn't have the practice that she needed to have that kind of control.

So there might be some interesting times ahead if she were to join their group and travel with them.

* * *

Watching the girl glow was beautiful. Having seen her body earlier, while not having had time to really look and appreciate it, he had seen perfection while looking back on his memories.

Now her hand was aglow with an ethereal light and the rest of her body shined in response. If only she would shine that way for him. She was beautiful. Her face was calm, her eyes were closed, and her hair was long, thick and strong. He could imagine her being as submissive as a woman should be, and she would be his.

His woman.

* * *

That face was remarkably familiar. Who did she look like? He had seen that look of utter concentration on that same face. But whose was it.

_Kikyo._

It was her face that he saw when he looked at this new girl. It was her eyes he had seen staring into nothing when the girl had finally looked in their direction.

Why did they look so similar? Were they related? Or was it just coincidence. It had been over fifty years since his former lover had died. And he had lost track of her family lines. So there was a good chance that this girl could be as closely related as a niece, or a cousin.

He would have to find out who this girls people were. And then he would decide what to do with her.

* * *

Wow. This has taken a long time for me to finish. I had a rough couple of months, what with testing, senior projects, government studies, and graduation. It has been kinda' hectic. But I hope that I still have at least some loyal readers. Anywayse. I am already working on chapter 13. So,

Read on loyal readers. Read on.

Love you all, Loyal Readers.

Kiaya.

* * *


	13. Observations

__

**_Yah. _**I finaly have the next instalment of the Lullaby. please don't hate me for taking so long. And, yes, I know that this chapter is kinka' short. But stay with me.

**_

* * *

_**

**_Chapter 13_**

'What the hell.' Kagome thought. The fungus was attacking her stump. The stump had allowed her to use its barrier, and now it was sick and dying because of her, in such a short amount of time.

In her minds eye she saw the fungus growing as she watched it. The stump had shown her that fungus could communicate as well as it did. But it had also shown her that it was a viscous thing that would invade her mind as soon as communicate with her. It was like a forest leopard, attacking it's pray and leaving anything that didn't interest it alone. She might be interesting enough to leave alone or she might be interesting enough to try to eat. All very much a gamble.

But the stump had only wound up in this predicament because it had protected her. It was her fault. She had to do something to save it.

Kagome inhaled the scent of the boy on her arms before she lowered him into her lap. She did not realize that she was at once conscious of her mind and the world at the same time, just that they were there and intermingling. In her head she was thinking of what she was going to do, conscious of all of the life blobs around her, and keeping a link open with the stump, all at the same time as her blank eyes gazed into nothing. Her mind was doing all of these things at the same time and more. Some of the things she could not even begin to describe, and others she didn't even know that it was doing.

* * *

Her mind was working in overtime, Sesshomaru could see. She was aglow in shifting color and a lot of it was centered on the center of her forehead. She was trying to do something with the stump that she had her hand attached to.

What is she doing?

Was she trying to talk to the stump? That was laughable. Plants were inanimate, like rocks. Some animals could be talked to, but that was about all. And if you could talk to animals, that in itself was odd.

So her behavior was unique and add to that she had erected a barrier. Well, this was a mystery. One that desperately needed to be solved.

Concentrating intently on her movements alone, Sesshomaru watched as she raised her other hand to join the first and closed her eyes. A subtle shift in her visual aura and Sesshomaru could see that the girl was now on the defense. She had been neutrally charged and now she was defensively charged, almost as though she expected an attack.

No one else had noticed her change of mode, just that she now had both palms resting against the stump now. From an uneducated view, the girl might appear to be praying or even to be insane, thus he watched his pack as they watched her.

* * *

'What was the girl doing?' Miroku thought as he watched the girl with one hand on the stump by her side and the other hand holding onto the kit.

If she hurt the kit, even with out intent, the Demons in his company would not hesitate to kill her. She had to know what she was doing, or she would not be doing it. A priestess could not hold up a barrier without conscious thought and concentration. And then she would not be able to concentrate her chi around her hand. That is to say if she had no idea of what she was doing. But if she knew, then she knew how dangerous she would be in current company.

"What is she doing. What is she thinking." He muttered so low that the only person to hear him was Sesshomaru.

* * *

Kouga watched as the girls hand glowed brighter and brighter. The thought crossed his mind that she might be a priestess. But that could not be, why then would she be taking care of the kit. She would have killed it by now if she were a priestess.

Then what was she doing. He growled in agitation. The suggestion that he try and watch for what she was saying had come too late to see any real conversation between her and the kit. He was so frustrated that he had no idea that he was growling until Inuyasha placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"We can't do that if she is going to be traveling with us. If you growl at her, you will only frighten her more, and that would be detrimental to our plans."

'Sometimes dog shit can think. Well, not _literally_ it can't, but you get the picture.' Kouga thought to himself.

* * *

The fungus was slimy in her mind, worming its way around her thoughts in an invasive way that the stump had not even attempted. The part of the stump that was still connected with her thoughts was horrified at the prospect of her having let the fungus invade her thoughts. It could kill her. It was in the process of defiling her mind.

But so far all the fungus had done was explore her mind. There was a shift that she needed to make in order to communicate with the fungus, she had felt that she needed to shift to do this, when the stump had shown that she could in fact communicate with the fungus, she just didn't know how to make the shift. Like trying to see into the depths of a pond instead of its reflective surface. Or that was what she would have compared it to if she had ever seen the surface of a pond.

The stump, having caught track of her thoughts poked and prodded at Kagomes' thoughts, as it had with the living blobby things, and poked her consciousness into a semblance of the required format for fungus communication. Though it was disgusted with her idea it could not deny her the chance that she would take, the tree stump could only help her, however reluctantly.

Instantly there was a difference. She could feel the thoughts of the fungus as it explored. Its curiosity, and morbid fascination. This was new territory to it and it had no idea what had happened.

_Do you have a moment?_ Kagome thought/felt/said. It was almost the equivalent of raising her eyebrows in a questioning manor, except with a definite meaning. And the fungus understood her.

It stilled immediately, startled. This was definitely new territory for it. Kagome felt it think at her, _What_? Almost a huffy acknowledgment.

_Will you talk with me?_ There was no assurance that the fungus would stay shocked and peaceable for too long, so she had better hurry.

_Talk with you? This is wrong on so many levels. You are a human. We do not communicate with your kind. We don't communicate with anyone except ourselves. _The thought was just a simple 'no' with a haughty air, and yet the simple 'no' meant all of that.

_You are communicating with me right now, aren't you? Talk with me. _That thought was just a simple showing of them talking at that very moment to prove it wrong.

Talking with the fungus was like talking with herself. It was inside her head and not really a voice, it was feeling and could and pictures and words and parts of words with color or texture attached. Alost like an instinctual language that could not be spoken but was just understood.

* * *

Sorry for the long wate. I started college and had a job and stuying. It was just so hectic. But now I have come back, and while I am on holiday vacation I hope to be able to write so much more. That is not a garentee. I am currently in the process of moveing. So I am right now boxing things up and unpacking and cleaning. All at the same time. Please have patence with me. I know that some of you have waited for half a year for this chapter and it is a bit of a let down, but I will rectify the situation as soon as possible.

Love you all, loyal readers.

Kiaya.

* * *


End file.
